Learning the Final Lessons
by RoseblossomWarrior
Summary: Because of Hao's disturbance, the Great Spirits have decided upon a change in the rules for the 2nd round. Ren is determined to defeat Yoh in the Shaman Tournament, but he still has lessons to learn from an American shaman girl. REALLY OLD AND CRAPPY.
1. Lago Appears Again

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own Shaman King. Do I look like I do? Well, for one, I'm not Japanese (I only know like, two words of the language, baka and hai. I think.) And I only own my OCs.**

**Hi there everyone, please read this author note, it's kinda important. **First, I'd like you all to know that I'm stepping out of my comfort zone a little to write this. I'm not used to writting 1) in a human's POV for an actual story, 2) I've never written a Shaman King fanfic before, and 3) I've never written with the romance genre. Hopefully, I won't fail too bad. xD I hope you all enjoy reading this, and even a reveiw saying "this is okay" will help. :) Oh, and I MIGHT have messed up on the dates. Hey, this is anime based, and they never said exactly what the dates were! XD

Oh, and Happy New Year! And, what other day to post a fanfic about Ren on any other day than his BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday, Ren! ;)

Here's a more detailed summary before we get into the first chapter, if you want to read it:

Because of Hao's disturbance in the Shaman Tournament, the King of Spirits has decided upon a new rule in the second round. Ren Tao is determined to defeat Yoh Asakura in the Shaman Tournament, but he still has lessons to learn, the most important being from an American shaman girl. But while Ren struggles to become Shaman King, evil lurks and threatens to destroy...

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**One: Lago Appears Again**

"Shui…I never gave up hope that Lago would come again.

"…I sound like that girl we saw at Patch Village, when Yoh Asakura and his twin, Hao, were dueling. What did that blonde man call her…? Oh yeah, Jeanne. She just rubbed me the wrong way, I guess."

The girl tucked a strand of her curly, dark brown hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear.

"Anyways, did you expect for Lago to reappear just one month after the defeat of Hao Asakura? I mean, really, the King of Spirits is possessed by the Spirit of Fire, and he's all right after just one month? Hah, I would've waited another year, at least. Maybe even five hundred!

"Nah, just kidding. But still, a month seems a little too soon, does it not? Lago streaked by here an hour ago, and we're already packed and ready to go."

"Miss Ashley, may I ask why you seem so hesitant to leave?" Shui asked. The girl's Guardian Ghost had long dirty brown hair that hung around her torso in strands. Pixie-like wings protruded from her back, and she wore a blue robe with wind patterns etched into it. The trained eye would see something weighting down her sleeves, which hid a baton in each sleeve, mimicking her master's weapons of choice.

"I'm just thinking," the girl answered. "And I told you a million times, call me Ash."

"I am sorry," Shui apologized. "I am still used to proper names, even though the time of my tribe in China was a millennium ago."

"You should've learned how to speak our _proper_ English when you came to America with my ancestors," Ash joked, repeated the phrase she had long ago come up with.

Shui laughed. Even though she was usually quiet and polite, her mistress could bring out a smile in anyone. "It's easy for you; you have English blood running through your veins, while I have no blood at all. I've never had blood; I am just a spirit of wind in a human-like form."

"At least Patch Village is here in America. Going to Japan made me jetlagged," Ash complained, slightly changing the subject. "At least that gives us more time to find new team members…"

Ash brought her tanned arm up to her face to look at the Oracle Bell again. She scrolled through the new rules, although she seemed to have read it a thousand times before in the past hour.

'_In light of the recent events concerning Hao Asakura, participants of the Shaman Tournament who are still in the running are allowed to make new teams. Round Two will pick up where it was left off. No one who has been disqualified as of October 7__th__ may be allowed to reenter the Tournament and/or be included in a team. Failure to comply with these rules and/or not have a team by December 7__th__ will result in disqualification.'_

Ash sighed. It was November seventh, which gave her one month to get to Patch Village (an easy task, as she knew the way now) and to find a new team. Which would most likely be difficult.

"If we ever see Christina or Tony again, remind me to beat the crap out of them," Ash told Shui, remembering her past teammates.

Ash looked up at the night sky, zipping her blue jacket up a little more to ward off the night chill of autumn. After a moment, she leaned down to pick up the backpack that she had dropped on the ground, slinging it over her shoulder.

"Shall we get going, Shui?" she asked, turning away from the house in front of her. She started down the rocky slope without a backward glance.

"Of course." Shui floated effortlessly after her fourteen-year-old master. "Did you say goodbye to Miss Laura?"

"Aunt Laura knows I'm leaving," Ash said simply, dropping the subject with a nonchalant shrug.

Together, the two of them ventured into the wilderness, toward the highway, which led to the distant desert where Patch Village resided.

---------

Manta gasped for breath as he ran down the street towards Yoh's house. The streetlights illuminated the path, casting the surrounding areas in shadow.

Manta had seen something that he had told himself that he would never see again. Lago, the star that signaled the Shaman Tournament. It had come just when he had realized that he would have to go back to a normal life. At least now it didn't have to be normal, at least for a while.

Finally, Manta arrived at Yoh's house. He came up to the front door, exhausted. He lifted a hand to knock, when the door opened, revealing the 'ever-pleasant' Anna, clad in her traditional black dress and red headscarf.

"D-did you see it?" Manta managed between breaths.

"Of course, you idiot," Anna retorted, her voice cold as usual. "Yoh's almost finished packing, and once he's finished--"

Anna broke off as Manta rushed past her into the house. Annoyed, Anna closed the door and followed more slowly. Although her face didn't show it, she was already starting to worry about her fiancé.

Anna stepped into the living room, where Manta was chattering excitedly to Amidamaru about the Shaman Tournament. Ren was busy yelling at someone on the other end of his cell phone, clad in his yellow jacket and shorts, his usual school uniform.

_Looks like crusty mustard,_ Anna thought as she leaned against the doorframe, trying to keep her mind busy.

They had already decided that Yoh and the other boys (minus Manta) would head out to Patch Village first, while the rest would follow more slowly. It was already apparent that Lyzerg and Chocolove were going. Ren was sending a private jet to London and New York for the two, to pick them up and drop them off at the airport nearest to Patch Village. Yoh, Ryu, Faust, and Ren would head up north to pick up HoroHoro, and then would head out to America. Leaving Anna, Manta, Tamao, and Pirika (who was going to head down to the nearest airport) to get ready more slowly and make sure the boys didn't forget anything in their rush to leave. Hopefully, if all went according to plan, it would take a little less than two weeks for them all to arrive in Patch Village.

"--just be ready when the jet comes!" Ren screamed into the phone, promptly hanging up. He sighed. "Do we _really_ have to take Chocolove with us?" he asked, his voice tainted with a whine.

"Of course we do!" Yoh answered, suddenly appearing from behind Anna, a backpack slung back behind his shoulder. As usual, a carefree smile was plastered on his face. "It wouldn't be the same without Chocolove!"

Ren huffed and proceeded to call his line of private jets, ignoring Yoh.

"While you're gone," Anna said to Yoh, "don't forget to do your pushups. Or the invisible chair. And too many cheeseburgers will make you fat, so don't eat them."

"Of course, Anna," Yoh answered. Anna was one-hundred-percent sure that he would forget her words. Well, not forget them, just ignore them.

"Yoh, I believe that we should take our time getting to Patch Village," Amidamaru said suddenly. The spirit visibly perked up. "While we're in the desert, we should go to the Grand Canyon!"

"After all," Manta joked, "you only live once!"

Ren hung up his phone. "Oh, don't you become like Chocolove too," he groaned.

Yoh laughed. "Oh, leave it alone, Ren. Besides, you don't have to be on his team this time around, remember?"

"Thank God!" Ren leaned back against the wall. "But now I have to find new teammates… And I will _not_ be on your team, Yoh. Your team will end up losing, even if I'm on it."

"Aw, thanks Ren!" Yoh laughed, scratching the back of his head.

_Why and how do you manage to just brush these things off?_ Anna wondered, yet again. _If I were you, I'd be at his throat._

Suddenly Bason appeared next to Ren. "Master Ren does not need team members! He can beat anyone single-handedly!"

"Oh, stop your butt-kissing, Bason," Anna commanded, standing up straight and sending the Chinese spirit a death glare.

"Y-yes Miss Anna," Bason stammered, backing away.

Amidamaru laughed. "The great Chinese warrior, afraid of An--" he broke off when he saw Anna's glare, then quickly tried to corrected himself. "I-I mean, Anna, you…" At a loss for words, Amidamaru smiled nervously and faded from sight.

Manta laughed, clutching at his stomach.

"Be quiet, Shorty." She looked at Manta out of the corner of her eye. "Tomorrow, you're coming here to clean to the house. If you're not here by eight, I will come out and find you and you'll wish I killed you."

Manta gulped. "Yes Anna."

Ren smirked, but he had enough sense to stay quiet. _You'd think they'd have all learned enough by now._

Yoh, however, did not. "Oh, come on, Anna, Manta was--"

"Yoh," Anna interrupted, "one more word and you will be _walking_ to Patch Village - no plane. Understood?"

"Yes Anna," Yoh sighed, backing down.

_Whipped,_ Ren thought, hiding a smirk from Anna. He looked sideways out the window at the night sky outside. "We leave for the airport at six-thirty. We should rest while we can."

"Are you staying here tonight, Ren?" Manta asked.

Ren shrugged. "Might as well."

"You're welcome to stay here too Manta," Yoh invited. "That way Anna can get you up nice and early for cleaning!"

Manta narrowed his eyes nervously and sweat-dropped. "Uh, thanks Yoh. But yeah, I'll stay."

Anna huffed and turned away. "Just as long as you don't play slumber party all night and keep me up with your noise. Don't gossip all night, now; and don't get any nail polish on my floors."

With that, Anna headed up the stairs to her room.

----------

Lago streaked across the desert sky, leaving a trail of silver beside the stars. A chilly night breeze rustled the hair of two figures standing on a cliff overlooking the desert.

After a moment, one spoke: "At the most, it will be three months until the Shaman King is chosen."

The other figure stayed silent for a moment. "Yoh and his companions have a definite chance," he mused, "but there are others as well, who have increasing power…" He trailed off, as if leaving something unsaid.

The first figure looked over at him. "What is it, Mikihisa?"

Mikihisa's face was turned to the stars, but the mask on his face made his expression hidden. "They have not learned all they need to become Shaman King yet. But it cannot be helped; we cannot teach it to them. Only they can, with the help of others their age."

He turned and walked back down the slope, away from the cliff's edge, leaving the first figure alone to watch Lago continue on its course around the world. Before Mikihisa went far, the first figure spoke.

"No… You're only talking about one of them."

Mikihisa stopped. Without turning around, he nodded. "You are correct, Silva… In a sense. But that does not mean that any one of them will become Shaman King, as I said before."

With that, the conversation was ended.

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**Well, there's the first chapter. Hey look, you've read, so now you can review, right? And don't worry, this story will have plenty of humor, just like the anime. (Yes, if you didn't know, this is based off both the **_JAPANESE AND ENGLISH ANIMES_**.) Why not the manga? Because I have no patience to read it, and I prefer the anime than the 30 chapters I read of the manga. But I'll probably read it eventually.**

**I'll write as much as I can during the winter break (I'm juggling three fics at once here, so be patient XD) and update as soon as possible, but don't expect too much after the 4th, I'll be getting swamped with homework. Anyways, I have the whole basic plot of this written out, but not all of the little details- I write as I go along, sticking to my plot. So if there's a plothole or something along the way, don't hesitate to point it out, okay? See you next time. :)**

**P.S. If you haven't gotten yet why they're allowed to make new teams, 1) Hao's followers killed particapants in the Tournament (at least how I see it, I could be wrong, don't judge me!) and 2) I took a few liberties as the author of this fanfic, okay?! xD Though Chocolove is cool, he was never my faveorite, so *kick* he and HoroHoro are off Team Ren, at least for now. Ya never know, right?**


	2. America

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own Shaman King.**

**Hey everyone. I was bored, so I decided to update again today. This is a bit shorter than the first chapter, and I find it a little... boring. Sorry about that, the next chapters will be better. :)**

**Two: America**

Ash struggled through the undergrowth, thorns scraping her unprotected face. Bits of bark and leaves were tangled in her curly hair, and dirt was smeared on her jacket.

"Damn this forest!" she exclaimed, almost tripping over a fallen branch. "Remind me why I decided not to take the road?"

"Because you said the road would take too long," Shui supplied, appearing next to her master in her dark blue spirit ball form.

"Right." Ash suddenly stopped and put her hand in her palm. "You know what I just realized, Shui? I could just do this." She shifted her right arm, and a rubber-capped steel baton slid out of her sleeve and into her hands. She quickly infused Shui into the baton, and focused the air immediately around the baton to thicken and pressurize into a substance as close to a solid as possible, curving the air to make a blade.

The next two hours were slightly easier as Ash hacked and slashed through the undergrowth, creating a makeshift path. She had never kept Shui inside the baton for this long before, but Ash considered it good exercise. But when noontime rolled around, sweat was pouring off of her face despite the cold temperature of fall, and she had to admit that she needed a break. She broke off her furyoku, and Shui appeared next to her in her full form.

Ash was breathing slightly heavily as she sat down on a rock. She smiled at Shui. "That was the longest that you've even been in the baton!"

"It was?" Shui asked. "I wasn't keeping track of time."

Ash looked up at her spirit. "I guess time doesn't matter if you're not alive, does it?"

Shui shrugged. "Not really, but I don't think anything can be ignorant of time."

Ash's grip tightened on her baton. "We might not have time if Hao's followers are still in the Tournament," she said, standing up.

Shui put out her arms. "You shouldn't take such a short break, you've never held onto your furyoku for so long."

Ash just shrugged and walked past her Guardian Ghost. "The sooner we get to Patch Village, the sooner I get new teammates. I won't stop until then; you know that Shui."

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Horohoro stuck his head into the mini-fridge. "Dude! Where's all the soda?!" He pushed past the jars of milk to the back of the fridge, managing to pull out a can of orange soda. He opened the can, and asked, "What's with all the milk, Ren?"

"As if you need to ask," Yoh laughed.

"I won't hesitate to throw you out of this plane," Ren threatened. His arms were crossed as he sat in his chair, staring out the window at the clouds.

"Lighten up, Ren," Ryu said from where he played Go Fish with Tokagero. "Not all of us drink milk like it's the end of the world."

Ren narrowed his eyes and his tongari-styled hair seemed to grow in annoyance, but he said nothing.

"C'mon, everyone," Faust soothed from where he sat next to Eliza. "We only have a few hours left until we land. Let's try not to kill each other until then,"

"But where's the fun in that?" Horohoro asked, crushing the now empty soda can in his hands.

Yoh shrugged. "Let's just get to Patch Village in one piece, 'kay?"

Faust nodded at Yoh's words and leaned back in his seat.

_You won't be Shaman King, Yoh… _Ren thought as he glared out the window. _I am a better fighter than you…_

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A few hours later, Ash finally managed to emerge from the dense woods. She was startled by how fast the landscape swapped trees and grass for a seemingly endless rocky desert. Far away, to her left, she saw cars speeding along the highway.

Ash sat down on a rock and did her best to pull the leaves and twigs out of her hair. "It just _has_ to be so curly," she muttered with a wince as she tugged at her hair.

"You could help, you know," she said a little louder.

Shui materialized next to her master and laughed. "It's your fault that you didn't want to take the road," she pointed out.

"Remind me never to cut through the woods again," Ash groaned, crushing a brittle leaf in her hand. "Do you see anything else in this rat nest?" She pointed to her hair.

"No," Shui answered, "but it's still a mess."

Ash sighed in frustration and redid her ponytail. She stood and brushed the dirt off her shirt and jeans, then began walking towards the highway.

"…You're not seriously going to hitchhike, are you?" Shui asked, staying by her mistress's side.

"Just until the road curves south," Ash answered. "You don't honestly think that something'll happen, do you? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." To prove her point, Ash shifted both her arms and a baton came out of both sleeves, into her hands.

Shui narrowed her eyes but became silent once again.

----------

Ash had barely stood beside the highway for three minutes before an eighteen-wheeler pulled over. From then on, drivers would take her to their exit and she would leave them to their lives before sticking her thumb out and catching another ride.

It seemed almost too easy. After twelve hours, she reached the stretch of highway that ran south, and left her ride (a man who was needing a bath and was carting goats) to face the desert.

Ash took a breath. She was alone now, in the desert. She remembered the first time she had tackled this obstacle; she had thought she was hallucinating from heat-stroke when Christina and Tony had appeared out of the blue and shared their water with her.

Blinking furiously, she stepped out onto the hard dirt. Footstep after footstep, she made her way towards the ever-distant Patch Village.

_I hope I didn't jinx myself when I said this would be easy…_

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HoroHoro stumbled off the plane last. "Dudes… I'm so jetlagged," he yawned as he joined his friends.

Ren crossed his arms. "No surprise there."

"What does that mean?!" HoroHoro asked, raising his fist.

"C'mon, guys," Yoh interrupted, "let's get inside the airport. Lyzerg and Chocolove should be waiting for us."

Inside the terminal, they found the two boys waiting for them by the front gate. When they got closer, Lyzerg smiled and Chocolove bounced in the air. "They're here, they're here!"

Ren smacked Chocolove upside the head. "Don't attract unnecessary attention, you idiot."

Chocolove stuck his tongue out. "It's not my fault you're not a comedian like me, though your hair says otherwise."

Ren rubbed his temples, trying to keep his temper under control. "Oh, there's just no comedian like you out there, Chocolove," he said sarcastically.

"Let's go," Faust said suddenly. "I cannot rest until we get to Patch Village and Yoh becomes Shaman King."

Ryu let out a shout of agreement, followed by his usual speech of how 'Master Yoh' was destined to become Shaman King.

Ren tuned them out as he followed them out of the airport. _Lies…_ a dark voice muttered in his head.

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**Reveiws are always welcomed, I might update later again tonight, maybe tommorow. Have a nice day! :)**

**Oh, and before I forget, I upped all their ages a little. So, everyone (except Ryu and Faust and the like) are 15, except Ren and Ash, who are 14 at the moment in the story. No biggie, I hope. XD**


	3. Meeting the Gang

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, Shaman King is not mine. If it was, there'd be a kickbutt girl shaman traveling with them.**

**As usual, I utterly fail at the title, but titles are nothing major, right? I'm not even sure I like the title of the fic itself, but whatever. Finally, we'll have a lot of humor in here. I hope I didn't make Chocolove's joke actually funny, but there's little chance in that. XD**

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Three: Meeting the Gang

Ren walked with his hands in his jacket pockets and stared straight ahead, the desert wind ruffling his hair and his yellow scarf. He stayed silent as the boys around him laughed and talked about the month they had spent apart.

Though they were his friends (as he would probably never openly admit), Ren stayed silent and apart from the rapid conversations. As soon as he had seen Lago streak across the sky, he had made up his mind to become Shaman King at any cost; not that he hadn't made that promise to himself before. But this time around, he was going to make an even greater effort, to give each battle not just one-hundred-percent of himself, but a thousand times more.

He breathed in the hot desert air (while it was November, there never seemed to be any clouds to cover the sun, nor shade from trees, as they were nonexistent in this wasteland) and he realized that his throat was parched. He reached into the backpack he carried with him, rummaging around in one of the pockets for the water bottle he had brought.

"All right, who took my water?" he asked, dropping his backpack and turning to glare at his companions.

"He did it!" HoroHoro immediately answered, pointing to Chocolove.

"No I didn't!" Chocolove answered, waving his arms, his eyes glued to Ren's tight grip on his Kwan Dao. "Why would I? HoroHoro's carrying the extra water!"

HoroHoro froze. "Wait… I thought Yoh was carrying the water!"

"No, HoroHoro," Yoh said, pointing to him. "That was _your_ job."

"Wait," Lyzerg interrupted. "I don't see the problem. Can't Kororo freeze the moisture in the air?"

Kororo blushed, as did HoroHoro as he explained. "It's very dry in the desert…" He trailed off.

Ren's grip on his Kwan Dao tightened, so that his knuckles turned white. His hair hid his eyes as he spoke in a low voice. "You mean… we don't have any water?"

HoroHoro turned to Kororo desperately. "Can you please try to make some ice?!" he pleaded.

Doubt crossed his spirit's face, but she tried to make ice on HoroHoro's snowboard nonetheless. A thin layer of ice appeared, but in a matter of seconds it melted in the sun's rays.

"You bastard!" Ren exclaimed, charging at HoroHoro with his Kwan Dao extended. As HoroHoro ran for his life, Ren started cursing in a multitude of languages, shifting most often between Mandarin, Japanese, and English. All the words were aimed at HoroHoro's stupidity.

----------

Ash played with one of her batons as she walked, wishing she had remembered extra batteries for her CD player.

"Dumb thing can't play for five minutes without needing new batteries," she mumbled, twirling the baton between her fingers.

Suddenly, she heard shouting in the distance. She looked up in surprise, searching for the source of the noise. Most of the words were incomprehensible to her, but she managed to make out some words along the line of: "You're such a forgetful ass!"

Shui suddenly appeared beside her mistress. "I sense other spirits." She pointed to where the shouting was coming from, and Ash took off in the direction of it, running at full speed.

Running over a rise, Ash was greeted by the sight of a large group of boy shamans, each one watching the progress of two others. One of them, a boy with spiky blue hair, was running away from a golden-eyed boy with purple hair styled in a spike, who was holding some sort of spear-like weapon.

_I recognize these shamans!_ Ash realized. _I saw them at the Tournament… That kid with the orange headphones is Yoh Asakura, but I don't know the other people's names…_

Suddenly, the tall guy with a hairdo that stuck out like a sore thumb noticed her. Instantly, he was kneeling at her side.

He said something in a foreign language - probably Japanese - and motioned to take her hand.

Disgusted, Ash pulled her hand away, but decided she may as well be polite, in any of these people ended up being her teammates - if she could find out how to understand them. "I only know English," she said slowly.

By this time, all the boys had noticed her, even the two that had been running around. Obviously, they were surprised, not just by seeing another shaman, but a lone girl as well.

"I know English!" the green-haired boy said suddenly, and the boy with the afro exclaimed that he could too.

"I know a little bit of English," the blue-haired boy said, suddenly appearing beside her.

_It's like they've never seen a girl shaman before_, Ash thought, a little bewildered.

The purple-haired kid stood with his weapon in his right hand, and his left hand on his hip. His eyes were narrowed. "Just who are you?" he asked suspiciously.

"My name is Ashley Williams," she supplied. "But you can call me Ash. This is my spirit, Shui," she continued as the wind spirit materialized.

The purple-haired boy stayed silent and looked at her suspiciously.

"Wait," the boy with the afro stated, "Ash? Like that kid from Pokemon?"

Ash smiled. "I thought no one would get it!"

The boys were silent for a second, staring at the strange girl. Ash could almost read the golden-eyed kid's mind: _What a feakin' child…_

"My name is HoroHoro!" the blue haired boy said excitedly, either not caring about her name or he was just plain ignorant of the cartoon show. Ash noticed that his voice stumbled a little when he spoke English. "This is my spirit, Kororo," he said, pointing to a tiny girl spirit that held a stalk of coltsfoot.

HoroHoro continued, introducing the rest of the group. "That's Ryu and his spirit, Tokagero-" he pointed to the tall guy who had tried to hit on Ash and the green-skinned spirit beside him. "That's Lyzerg Diethel and Chocolove McDonnel, and their spirits, Morphine and Mic-" these were the kids who said they could speak English. Morphine was a tiny pixie, while Mic was a jaguar. "That's Faust and his spirit-slash-wife, Eliza-" Faust was a tall man with bags under his eyes, and Eliza was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair. "And that's-"

"Yoh Asakura," Ash said suddenly. "I heard about you."

Yoh smiled and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah," he said in understanding, then jerked his thumb to show the samurai spirit behind him. "This is Amidamaru."

"And Mr. Happy here," HoroHoro said, pointing to the golden-eyed kid, "the guy who tired to _kill_ me, is Ren Tao."

"Len?" Ash asked. "As in Lenard?"

"No!" the boy yelled suddenly, gripping his weapon with both hands. "It's _Ren_! In direct translation, it's spelled with an _'R,' _not an _'L.'_"

Ash held back a giggle. _I love people who have buttons to push. This'll be fun…_

"All right, Lenny," she said, drawing out the 'L' sound so that it sounded like 'Lllllllenny.'

Ren growled and took a threatening step towards her, but Yoh put a hand on his shoulder. Ren shook off Yoh's hand, but stood still and only looked at Ash with narrowed eyes.

"Are you all alone?" Ryu asked, standing up from his previous kneeling position.

Ash nodded. "My old teammates… joined Hao." She looked down for a moment, not wanting to explain further, then looked back up when HoroHoro exclaimed, "I'll be on your team!"

Ash blinked in surprise. "Thanks." She hadn't expected a teammate so soon, but she still wasn't sure about these strangers. Sure, she knew who they were now; they had helped Yoh defeat Hao, and that must have made them strong. They could prove to be worthy allies if they could trust her - not that that was a problem, she wouldn't backstab them or anything, but Ren seemed… well, not too willing to trust.

HoroHoro looked at Chocolove, and some sort of unspoken agreement passed between them as the comedian exclaimed, "I'll be on Lyzerg's team!"

HoroHoro gave Ryu a meaningful glance, and Ryu bowed to Ash. "I would love to be your teammate, but Master Yoh needs me." With that, he walked over to Yoh and clamped his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Look's like Ren's doesn't have a team," HoroHoro teased, though the teasing edge was taken away with his lack of knowledge of the English language as he mispronounced most of the words.

"Well, look what happened the last time we accepted strangers into our group," Ren pointed out, waving his arm towards Lyzerg and Chocolove.

"Hey!" Chocolove called. "I take off-fence to that!" He seemed to pull a picket fence out of nowhere for that pun, and held it above his head.

Ash stared at Chocolove, holding back a laugh as Ren poked him in the nose with the spear.

Ren turned back to her. "Besides, I don't even know what you're capable of. For all I know, you could have come this far by leeching off your old teammates."

"Leeching…?" HoroHoro asked, confused.

Ren explained the meaning in Japanese, then added, "Baka." Ash knew enough to know what that meant.

Ash crossed her arms and smirked. "Why don't you challenge me to a fight, then? I'm surprised you haven't already; you must be really afraid of girls."

Everyone giggled at Ren's flushing face, but Ash knew it wasn't because he really was afraid of her, but rather because he had been humiliated by a total stranger, a _girl_ nonetheless.

"A Tao fears nothing!" Ren stated, brandishing his weapon.

"What _is_ that thing, anyway?" Ash asked, unfazed. _Buttons, buttons, buttons… This guy is fun._

"It's called a Kwan Dao, you imbecile!" Ren shouted. "Bason!" he called, infusing his spirit into his weapon.

"You have a temper," Ash noted, taking off her jacket and shifting her arms so that her batons fell into her hands, and she threw the one in her left hand onto her jacket, beside her backpack.

"Shui," she said calmly, "into the baton."

Ren started laughing when he saw the rubber-capped rod of steel. "What the hell kind of weapon is that?"

"A baton." Ash smirked.

"Attack of the marching band!" Chocolove screeched.

"Actually," Ash corrected, "it's from when I twirled baton. It's a sport."

"Hmph." Ren shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't care if it's a sport or not, that is no weapon compared to my Kwan Dao."

"Aw, Lenny, don't be so quick to judge; you haven't even seen me fight yet."

"It's _Ren!"_ he called out, becoming frustrated.

While they had been speaking, the others had cleared the area for the unofficial spar, as they knew Ren would not back down from this stranger. Ash still stood on the slight rise, while Ren stood below; they were about twenty feet from each other.

Faust held up his hand. "Ready… Fight!"

* * *

**If you're following along, don't worry, this is a double-update, so you won't have to wait around for the next chapter. After that, though, you might have to wait a while for the next chapter.**


	4. The Spar

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, I still don't own Shaman King.**

**Here we go! I loved writting this chapter, and while it was fun to write the spar scene, I feel it was a bit rushed. Sorry about that. But anyways, read on!**

* * *

Four: The Spar

Manta breathed heavily as he took his three-minute break. Anna had already had him clean all the hallways, scrub the bathrooms, and clean the dishes. But there were still more chores to do.

He wondered why she was making him clean before they left. It wasn't like people were going to visit them while they were away, and he secretly thought that any burglars who might break in would find any items they were looking for rather quickly as opposed to rummaging through a messy house. Not that the En Inn was ever messy, with the amount of cleaning Anna made him and Yoh do.

"Time's up," Anna said, walking passed him. "Go rake the lawn now, and after that, clean all the windows. Pirika will be here tomorrow, and the day after we're leaving for America to meet up with Jun at the airport."

"Yes Anna," Manta supplied meekly, going to the closet near the kitchen to get a rake.

Tamao was in the kitchen, preparing lunch. She had arrived earlier that morning from Yoh's grandparent's home, where she had been studying.

"You hungry, Manta?" she asked.

In truth, Manta was starving, but if Anna caught him eating instead of doing his work, he would be severely reprimanded - or worse. So, all he did was shake his head.

"All right," Tamao said, continuing to cook.

"Hurry up!" Anna called, and Manta hurried outside, struggling to carry the rake, which was much taller than him.

----------

"Golden Slash Dance!" Ren screeched as he sent a flurry of thrusts with his Kwan Dao.

"Hurricane Shield!" Ash twirled the baton between her fingers before grabbing it in her fist horizontally. The air in front of her swirled at terrifying speeds, causing Ren's attack to be deflected to the side.

Ren's eyes widened in surprise, but he dashed forward, stabbing forward with his Kwan Dao toward Ash. Quickly, Ash slashed outward, sending her Gale Blade attack toward her opponent. Sand was kicked up by the bluish wind, tipping Ren off. He jumped into the air a moment too late, however; the attack caught his foot, causing him to land awkwardly on the ground with his right foot. Ash sent another Gale Blade attack toward him, but he managed to jump out of the way before the attack hit him.

Ren ran in a curved line around Ash. "Golden Slash Dance!" he called again, sending out another volley of slashes with his Kwan Dao. Because he was closer to her, she didn't have time to raise her Hurricane Shield. Instead, she dived to the side, but one of the slashes cut her on the leg.

She hissed in pain as the dust she'd raised from dodging landed on her cut, but she ignored it and curved the air around her baton into an Air Blade. Ren dashed closer to her, bringing up his Kwan Dao to slash at her. She brought her baton up into a defensive position and blocked the attack with her Air Blade. To a regular human, it would appear as if the Kwan Dao and the baton were separated by a few inches, but a shaman would see a bluish aura in the air between the two weapons.

"You're better than I thought you were, Lenny," Ash teased as they fought for control, wincing at the pain in her leg.

Ren growled in annoyance and his knuckles whitened as his grip on the Kwan Dao increased, and he pushed against Ash's Air Blade with more force. "Don't make me decapitate you," he hissed, pushing against her Air Blade with all his might, sending her stumbling backwards.

He jumped forward, holding his Kwan Dao horizontally. He pushed the staff into her stomach, sending her to the ground and causing her to lose her oversoul. He stabbed with his Kwan Dao, embedding the Chinese spear into the ground beside her head.

Both opponents stayed still for a moment, breathing heavily as the dust from their fight settled. An unreadable emotion lingered in Ren's eyes.

The Chinese boy pulled his Kwan Dao out of the ground. "You fight well for a girl," he grunted.

"You fight well for a guy," Ash replied, sitting up to inspect the cut on her leg. It wasn't deep, but it was bleeding profusely down into her sock.

Faust was suddenly beside her, Eliza standing behind him. "Don't worry, I'm a doctor," he said with a smile, warming his otherwise creepy-looking face. He inspected the wound and cleaned it with alcohol, then wrapped it in a bandage.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked.

Ash shook her head, and he put his equipment back in his first aid kit.

"That was a good fight!" HoroHoro congratulated, holding out his hand to help Ash up.

"Thanks," Ash said as she stood.

"Hey Ren," Yoh said as he walked over. "She was winning for a minute there."

Ren shrugged as he put back on his jacket and scarf. "I went easy on her since she's a girl."

"Really?" Ash asked. "I did the same thing!"

Ren glared at her silently, breaking up his Kwan Dao so that it fit in a large pocket on the inside of his coat as the younger boys in the group chuckled.

"Do you think he'd make a good member in our team?" HoroHoro asked with a grin.

"I don't know." Ash scratched her chin in mock thought.

Ren crossed his arms. "I'll admit that you are a formidable opponent." He narrowed his eyes. "For now, I'll be on your team. But if I meet better shaman, I'm joining them."

Ash nodded. "Fine by me. What about you, HoroHoro?"

HoroHoro put his hands behind his head. "As long as he doesn't try to kill us."

"Which reminds me…" Ren pulled his Kwan Dao back out of his jacket and put it back to its full length. "Wasn't I trying to kill you for forgetting to bring water?"

HoroHoro backed up and said something rapidly in Japanese, smiling nervously and holding out his hands as if to say, 'Please don't kill me.'

Ren took a step toward HoroHoro, but Ash interrupted them. "I can get you water."

Both boys froze and looked at her, as did everyone else. "You can?" Lyzerg asked.

"Well, I have extra water bottles, but I only use those in an emergency," Ash said, putting Shui back into her baton. Luckily, it didn't take too much furyoku to separate the moisture from the air.

"Someone get a cup or something!" Ash said, too late. The water droplets that she had made in the air dropped onto the ground, and were soaked up greedily by the parched desert floor.

HoroHoro said something to Kororo, who nodded. HoroHoro took his snowboard and held it out. "Put the water on here, and Kororo will freeze it."

Ash nodded, and separated the water from the air again, over the snowboard. Immediately, Kororo froze the water, creating a snowboard-shaped layer of ice.

Quickly, Ren flipped the ice into the air with his Kwan Dao and sliced the ice into equal pieces for everyone. Well, almost equal pieces.

"Why is mine smaller than everyone else's?" HoroHoro asked, remembering just in time about their new American companion.

"Because you are a forgetful ass," Ren explained before licking his ice.

"He's rather cold, isn't he?" Ash noted as she walked between HoroHoro and Yoh as they began to trek toward Patch Village again.

Yoh laughed. "You should've seen him at the start of the preliminaries." A sudden, thoughtful look came to his face. "Actually, I'll take that back. You _shouldn't _have seen him then."

Ash's interest was piqued, but she didn't ask anything else about Ren.

At the same time, Ren walked ahead of the group, licking his ice silently. He overheard Ash's comment with his keen ears, and let out a low huff of laughter. _I just always seem to attract pains in my ass,_ he thought. But this didn't change the fact that while the spar had been relatively short, he had been impressed with Ash's skill. Not that he would say that out loud, of course.

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**Yeah... I feel like the fight should have been longer, but whatever. XD Oh, and yes, I know that Ash's Gale Blade attack is extremely similar to Yoh's Halo Blade, but I was playing around with words and I couldn't give up the Gale Blade attack, and besides, different people _can_ use the same techniques, at least in part. And also, Ash's strategy revolves more around fighting from a distance than hand-to-hand.**


	5. What are the Odds?

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, Shaman King is not mine.**

**I'm really updating this story fast. o.O I've never updated this fast. I guess I want to get this going quickly in case I lose interest. Enough of my babbling, on with the chapter.**

* * *

Five: What are the Odds?

Ren sat cross-legged as he ate his ramen. Around him, his traveling companions were eating their breakfast as well, slurping up the noodles noisily and talking to each other, failing to keep their voices low.

Ren glanced at the blue sleeping bag that Ash still slept in. What was the English phrase…? Oh yes, _she slept like a log_. Ren thought it was a pretty stupid saying, but it fit nevertheless.

They had walked the entire day yesterday, managing to find an oasis before sundown. They had eaten their supper and stayed up until the moon rose, talking to each other and asking Ash about herself.

Apparently, she was going to turn fifteen in a few months, and had lived her whole life in America before traveling to Japan to be in the preliminaries. She lived with her aunt, who she admitted was not a shaman, but she had not been willing to say much beyond that. Ren had listened with mild interest, letting the others ask the questions.

Even though she came off as carefree and somewhat childish, Ren was suspicious of her. He remembered her saying yesterday that her teammates had joined Hao, and while she was seemingly alone, she could have joined Hao with her old teammates. While Hao was dead - well, at least until the next Shaman Tournament in five hundred years - at least some of his followers still lived.

He wanted to voice his concern to Yoh, but hadn't found a time where they could talk privately. Ren knew that he could just come out and say it in front of everyone, but something held him back. He wasn't sure what is was - perhaps it was because he had been impressed with her fighting skill - but it kept him silent.

He looked up from his ramen as he heard Ash groan sleepily, lifting her head up from her sleeping bag. Her brown curly hair had come loose from its ponytail during the night, making her hair look frazzled, almost as if she had stuck her finger in an electrical socket.

On some sort of sudden impulse, Ren stated, "And so the girl with the bed hair lives."

Ash blinked in surprise, as if she had forgotten she wasn't traveling alone anymore, and shrugged her shoulders before fixing her hair. "At least I don't look like a purple rhinoceros."

Ren flushed with anger as the boys chuckled, though HoroHoro had to ask what a rhinoceros was before he got the joke.

"It's called a tongari, you nitwit!" Ren flashed back before going back to eating his ramen.

Ash shrugged again. "Whatever. Hey, uh, what are you guys eating?"

"It's ramen," Yoh answered, slurping up a few of the noodles. "Want some? Ryu made a lot."

Ash nodded, and Ryu spooned the ramen from a pot still slightly simmering beside the smoldering campfire they had made last night with bits of leaves and brush from the vegetation around the oasis. He handed her a bowl and a pair of chopsticks.

Ash narrowed her eyes in confusion at the chopsticks, and tried to copy how everyone else was eating, but ended up dropping her noodles back into her bowl.

"It was easier last night when we had dumplings," she muttered crossly, trying again unsuccessfully to pick up her ramen with her chopsticks. Ren remembered that she hadn't picked up the dumplings with both chopsticks; rather, she had stabbed them, then stuffed them in her mouth.

"Don't worry," Lyzerg said, leaning over. "I had trouble my first time too. You hold them like this, and pinch them together to pick stuff up." As he explained, he held out his chopsticks to show her how to hold them.

"Oh!" Ash exclaimed in understanding. She picked up some more ramen, only one or two of the noodles falling back into the bowl. She slurped them up, and made a face before continuing to eat. "Thanks Lyzerg," she said with her mouth full.

"No problem," Lyzerg said, continuing to eat his breakfast.

"How the hell did you survive in Japan if you didn't know how to use chopsticks, or know Japanese?" Ren asked coldly.

"Shui's a Chinese spirit; she knows a bit of Japanese. I also had to ask a lot of people if they could speak English," Ash explained. "And sometimes I had to eat with my fingers if there weren't forks or anything," she added, a little sheepishly.

_She's even more of a child than I thought,_ Ren thought as the others let out a laugh. He finished his ramen and stood, tossing the wooden bowl back towards Ryu, then walked off to train with his Kwan Dao a good distance away.

He slashed at imaginary foes, wishing he had actual targets. Suddenly, Bason materialized beside him. "Master Ren?" he asked, speaking in Chinese.

"What is it, Bason?" Ren asked, annoyed, as he continued to slash at the air.

Bason hesitated. "Master Ren, if I may say, the girl has a good soul. I believe we can trust her."

Ren froze in a lunging position, thinking.

"I trust your judgment, Bason," he said finally. "But we shall see if she can be a good ally. Though he is a good ally now, I don't want another Lyzerg on our hands."

"Understood." Bason bowed and his form dissipated, leaving Ren to continue with his training.

----------

Half an hour later, the entire group was packed and ready to leave. The dishes had been washed in the oasis, and they had cleaned up their campfire from the night before.

"Onward to Patch Village!" Chocolove shouted, pointing as he ran.

"Isn't he going the wrong way…?" Ash asked hesitantly as they began walking.

Ren shrugged. "Who cares?"

As he said this, Chocolove seemed to realize that he was alone, and doubled back to run passed the group, shouting excitedly.

Ren sighed in exasperation. "Anyways, Lyzerg, how much farther is it to the next town?"

Lyzerg checked his map. "Not too far; we should get there before it gets dark." He folded the map back up. "I hope we find another shaman there. Chocolove and I need a third teammate…"

"I'm sorry to say this, Lyzerg," HoroHoro began, "but what are the odds of finding another lone shaman?"

----------

"HoroHoro, do you have some sort of psychic ability?" Ash asked in a low voice.

The group stood just outside the outskirts of the town. The sun was setting, setting the desert ablaze with orange.

"I guess I do," HoroHoro said, scratching the back of his head.

A brown-haired boy of about fifteen stood in front of them, clad in a t-shirt and shorts. A human spirit stood just behind him, clad in medieval armor.

"My name is Daniel," he said. "Are any of you on a team?"

* * *

**Wow... bet you didn't see that coming XD**

**I notice that I only have one review so far. That was encouraging, but, not to be rude, it wouldn't kill you to review. XD Nah, it's fine, review if you want.**


	6. Awkward

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, I still don't own Shaman King.**

**Okay, here's another chapter! It's kinda what you've all probably been waiting for. ;) You know... probably XD As always, I worry if Chocolove's joke is funny or not... please tell me if it is xD**

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Six: Awkward…

Ren crossed his arms as he stared at the newcomer - Daniel. This was all too much of a coincidence. They had come across two lone shamans in two days; it wasn't something you'd expect this far in the Tournament, but then again, the new rule given by the Great Spirits gave reason for this. But it didn't help to lessen Ren's suspicion.

He opened his mouth to voice his suspicion, but he froze when he saw Yoh shaking Daniel's hand.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?!" Ren asked, stomping forward. "We already let this girl join us, and finding two shamans in two days is too much of a coincidence!"

Yoh looked back, confused. "But Lyzerg and Chocolove need a teammate."

As he said this, Lyzerg and Chocolove hurried over and introduced themselves to Daniel, ignoring Ren, who crossed his arms and huffed. _Not only do I attract pains in my ass, but they never listen to me either!_

He turned away and watched Daniel out of the corner of his eye. The boy seemed shy, but seemed to hold himself with a certain confidence, like he could hold his own in a fight. He wore gloves made out of some sort of meshed metal, and he had a sword sheathe strapped to his back, under his backpack, where he could reach it but not alert the untrained eye to its presence.

_What is this kid? Some kind of 'knight?' It would explain his spirit…_

Daniel introduced his spirit as Cameron, formerly and formally Sir Cameron, a knight of medieval times, who died before he could carry out his mission to slay a dragon.

Ren stared at the two newcomers like one would a crazy person. _Well, of course he died! Dragons only exist by means of furyoku, and I'm sure this poor excuse of a medieval hero couldn't take down a shaman._

"A dragon?" Ash asked, in awe. "You must've been a brave knight."

Ren wanted to bury his face in his hands as Cameron thanked the girl. Was he destined to be surrounded by idiots for the rest of his life?!

He stayed silent as Lyzerg introduced the group to Daniel. When he introduced Ren, Chocolove cut in and said, "He's not usually this silent, but he's always deadly."

"You and your IDIOTIC puns!" Ren screeched as he whipped out his Kwan Dao, lunging for the comedian. But before he could reach him, Yoh blocked the attack with Harusame.

"Lighten up, Ren," Yoh said casually. "It's just a joke."

Ren growled but took a step back, putting his weapon at his side. "At least he's not on my team anymore." He turned to Daniel. "It's not my call to make, but if it was, you'd have to earn your right to be traveling with us."

"C'mon, man," HoroHoro said, grabbing Ren's shoulder. "Don't be so rude."

Ren shrugged. "It's only the truth."

Daniel laughed, albeit a little nervously. "It's fine, I understand. Both of my partners gave up the Tournament, but I'm only in it to become stronger."

"Stronger?" Lyzerg asked.

Daniel nodded. "I don't care if I become Shaman King or not. I'm only in it to better myself."

Again, Ren looked at him like one would a crazy person. How the hell could you _not_ care? Ren had spent his whole life aiming to become the Shaman King, and it irked him to see someone so… nonchalant about it.

HoroHoro yawned at looked at the rapidly darkening sky; the sun had already disappeared under the horizon. "What are we doing standing here? Let's go find a hotel and-"

"I already looked," Daniel said. "There's only one inn, and it's full."

"Full?" Ryu asked in disbelief.

Daniel nodded. "I'm pretty sure it's full of shamans."

Yoh shrugged. "Eh, it wouldn't hurt to sleep out here for the night."

"You're so easygoing you wouldn't know a problem if it bit you in the ass," Ren stated.

He felt something flick his ear. "Foul words make for a foul person, Lenny," Ash said simply, putting her hand back behind her back.

"Oh, go fall in a hole," Ren growled, feeling his face heating up a little bit.

Yoh laughed. "Hey, while there's still a bit of light left, who wants cheeseburgers?"

"Ooh I love cheeseburgers!" Ash exclaimed, bouncing on her feet.

Daniel looked sideways at her. "Who gave you sugar?"

Ash looked down and scratched her arm. "…I have sugar sticks in my backpack."

_Note to self,_ Ren thought as they headed in to the town, _never, ever let another person join this group. No exceptions._

----------

Ren stared at the moon and the stars silently as everyone around him snored. His hands were under his head, and his elbows pointed out to either side.

Suddenly, he felt something poke his elbow. "Are you awake, Lenny?"

Ren silently cursed his luck. How Ash had managed to roll out her sleeping bag next to Ren without him noticing was beyond him. "Yes, I am," he said shortly.

Ash ignored Ren's tone and her voice was an awed whisper. "Aren't the stars pretty? I could just stare at them all night, thinking."

Ren looked at her. "The stars guide us," he said carefully.

"Do you think about stuff when you look at the stars?" she asked. "I mean- not to pry or anything, I'm just wondering."

Ren resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation. "Yeah… I think about my family most of the time." He looked sideways at her, and then did something he never thought he would do: he continued the conversation. "What do you think about?"

"My family." Ren was surprised at her cold tone, and he looked to see her turning in her sleeping bag so that her back was to him, and she didn't say anything for the rest of the night.

----------

By the next afternoon, the group was walking out of the town and heading toward Patch Village once again. Though there was talking and joking as usual, everyone could tell that something was off.

Ren walked ahead of the group, a little to the right. Ash's sudden coldness the night before had set him off.

"You okay, Ren?" Yoh asked, catching up to him.

"I'm fine, Yoh," Ren said harshly.

Yoh frowned, but dropped back to walk with the main group.

Ren put his hands in his jacket pockets. _Girls are so complex, they make everything difficult,_ he thought bitterly.

At the same time, Daniel walked beside Ash. "Is something the matter?" he asked as he noticed her unusual quietness.

"Huh?" Ash asked, looking up. "Oh, I think I'm just on a sugar crash from those sugar sticks," she lied, and then continued walking with her eyes on her shoes.

_Ugh, why do boys seem to make everything weird?_ she thought. _I know Ren wasn't meaning to, but I didn't expect him to ask about me..._

_

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_

**This was short. Oh well, I'll work on length for the next chapter. I might or might not be sick, so I don't know when I'll update next, but I'll do my best. :)**


	7. Burn

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, still don't own Shaman King.**

**Wow. I am getting REALLY bad at chapter length o.O Like, REALLY REALLY bad. Usually I have 2k words in the document without author notes, or at least 1.5k words. Oh well, later chapters with be longer XD **

**Seven: Burn**

Jun smiled. "Welcome to America, again."

Anna dumped her luggage in Lee Pailong's arms. "Where's the hotel? I need to wash this airplane smell off of me."

Jun's smile stayed with some force. "The cab's waiting in front of the airport." She turned and led the way through the terminal.

Manta dragged his luggage and Anna's extra empty luggage (she had to bring souvenirs back in _something_) up to the trio as Pirika and Tamao followed close behind.

As they made their way through the terminal, Pirika stuck close to Jun, Anna walked in silence, Tamao walked in _uncomfortable_ silence, and Manta just dragged the luggage.

_Why am I the pack mule…?_ he thought bitterly. Pailong walked beside him, carrying the rest of the bags, and he smiled down at Manta.

_At least I'm not alone._ Manta sighed. _But wait… Pailong's a zombie! He doesn't get tired!_

"Hurry up, Manta," Anna said without looking back, seeming to sense Manta's sudden 'lack of enthusiasm.'

"Y-yes Anna," Manta stammered.

Pirika watched as Jun suddenly pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Are you messaging someone?" the blue haired girl asked.

"I'm trying to text Ren," Jun explained. "But his replies are always short, so I keep trying to get him to talk more."

"You'll fail, you know," Anna said.

Jun shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to try."

----------

"Dinner!" Ryu announced. "We have tea and rice! Eat it while it's hot!"

Ash's stomach growled. _Rice… How do you all survive in Japan?!_

Nevertheless, she took her share of rice and tea from the pots, and looked around for a place to sit. They were in the middle of the desert (where _else_ could they be?) and the team was scattered around in small groups or sat alone, like Ren.

Ash stared at him for a second as he ate his rice, wondering why he ate alone. Wasn't he supposed to be friends with the others? She was a little hesitant of him; she knew that he hadn't meant to set her thoughts on her family, but still… He had a mysterious aura to him; a tough exterior, but she knew there was something under there… And it was probably very deep under.

Ren caught her stare and sent her a quizzical, uncertain look, his chopsticks half in his mouth. _Darn girl… what does she want?_ He almost choked on his rice as she walked over and sat beside him.

"Why are you sitting next to me?" he asked, tensing.

"Because I want to apologize," she said, trying to pick up her rice with her chopsticks but failing, and he noticed she was looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

Ren felt extremely awkward. _Why is she doing this? And why do I feel so awkward?! _He wanted to sigh in frustration. "…Did I make you mad?" he asked, not knowing what else to say.

"N-no!" Ash stammered, staring at her bowl. "I just don't have a lot of fond memories of my family."

Ren could understand that. "Well, I didn't mean to make you feel awkward last night." Suddenly, his face flushed as he realized the different ways of how what he had just said could be interpreted (he was a teenager, what would you expect?). He took a gulp of his tea to hide his embarrassment, and he held back a gasp as the tea scalded his tongue.

"It's fine," Ash said, still trying to pick up some rice. She looked sideways at him and suddenly noticed his pained expression. "Something wrong?"

"I'm phine," Ren said, his burnt tongue causing him to speak like something was in his mouth.

Ash looked at him strangely. "You sure?"

"Ith nophing," Ren said quickly, hoping that she wouldn't press him on the subject. He shifted so that more of his back was facing her, and he realized that the boys were stealing glances at him and Ash with smug smirks on their faces. They were too far away to hear their conversation, but it was pretty obvious as to why they were smirking.

"What'th tho funny?!" he asked them, suddenly wishing he could take the words back.

Everyone around him started to laugh hysterically, and he flushed in embarrassment and anger. He crossed his arms, knowing that if he tried to speak it would only make matters worse.

"What's wrong, Ren?" Chocolove asked. "Cat got your tongue?"

Ren snarled at the clichéd joke, and tried to ignore them by eating his rice.

"I think Lenny here burned his tongue on his tea!" Ash exclaimed, giggling.

Ren shook with anger, trying to keep himself under control. He shoveled more rice into his mouth and swallowed. _They'll stop eventually… Yeah, eventually…_

Suddenly, a ball of rice exploded in his face. He dropped his rice bowl, and stood, scowling, drawing his Kwan Dao out of his coat.

"That'th it!" he snarled, the hard edge of his tone dulled by his scalded tongue. He shifted into a battle stance, casting his eyes over his companions.

"Jeez, Lenny, calm down," Ash said, pointing her chopsticks at him. "We were only having a little bit of fun."

_Oh, and humiliating me is fun!_ If Ren's tongue wasn't burnt, he would be spouting out a few choice words right about now. He glared at the girl. _It's your fault anyway._

He growled once more at his companions before reluctantly putting his Kwan Dao back in his coat. He picked up his tea and his rice bowl (though most of the rice he hadn't eaten had fallen onto the ground when he had stood up) and walked a little ways away before sitting back down to finish his meal crossly.

_Why can't they leave me alone for one day?_ He sighed. It was annoying to be pestered like this. And it was all started because of that _girl_.

Making sure that the boys weren't watching him anymore, he cast a quick glance at Ash, only to realize that she was looking at him. He lowered his head so that his hair covered his heated face, and he hurriedly ate his rice.

He mentally shook himself. Why the hell did he _blush_? He wasn't turning soft, was he?! This was ridiculous. He was becoming embarrassed because of a _girl._ But it wasn't only the fact that she had been looking at him that had startled him. Her expression had been genuinely curious, like she wanted to know more about him…

"Ren, are you finished?"

Ren looked up to see Lyzerg standing over him, his hand held out to collect his dishes.

"Yeah," Ren answered, handing his bowl and cup to the green-haired shaman.

"You know, Ren," Lyzerg began, looking a little uncomfortable at giving his advice, "it helps if you laugh along. Then you have fun, too." With that, he turned and headed back toward the others, but not before giving Ren an encouraging smile.

* * *

**Does this count as fluff? XD Here comes my inexperience at the romance genre, hopefully I've read enough fluffy fanfics to suffice XD Eh, but the really fluffy parts won't happen for a little while yet, but don't be discouraged about that.**

**Don't be shy! I accept all reviews! :)**


	8. Ditch

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, Shaman King is not mine.**

**Mwahaha! This is more like it, 1.8k words. Wow. I fail. Even when I win, I fail. Meh, whatever. I planed this chapter from like, the moment I came up with the idea for this story. Well, almost. Anyway, on with the story!**

**Eight: Ditch**

A hot breeze stirred Ren's hair as he walked along with the others across the desert. He had decided to take Lyzerg's advice, and he conversed more with his friends as they trekked, though he didn't laugh much, only offering a huff or two if he found something amusing. A few times, though, he had to threaten HoroHoro and Chocolove to get them to shut up, but it wasn't too bad.

For some reason, he couldn't help stealing quick side-glances behind him. Daniel and Ash walked only a few paces back, and Ash took part in most of the conversations, but Daniel was more reserved, and only spoke quietly to her, rarely commenting on the main conversations.

Part of Ren wanted to roll his eyes, but another part of him wanted to narrow them. Daniel was being… oh, English phrases were so hard to remember…! Right, Daniel was being Captain Obvious. He huffed smugly. Daniel was Captain Obvious, but Ash was also Captain Oblivious. Similar words, but very different meanings, Ren noted, satisfied for some reason he didn't know.

Unknown to him, HoroHoro and Yoh shared a knowing grin as Ren took another glance behind him. When he turned his attention back to them, Yoh's stomach growled loudly.

"Lunchtime!" Yoh laughed. "Let's hurry, I want more cheeseburgers!"

"Your stomach has good timing," Lyzerg noted, pointing. "Look!"

The others followed his gaze and saw a town on the horizon. "Food!" Chocolove exclaimed, starting to run. Ash laughed and yelled, "Food!" and ran after Chocolove.

Ren stared at her retreating figure as the others laughed and started to run as well. He had to admit, Ash was very… different. She was very boyish, and her brown curly hair was always loosening form her ponytail, making the top of her head look fuzzy. Suddenly, he wondered what her hair looked like when it was down… _Wait, wait, wait! Okay Ren, just shut up your mind and follow the others; you're falling behind._

A little disturbed that he was resorting to talking to himself, he hurried after the others.

----------

Though it was only midday, everyone decided that staying in the town until the next day would be the best decision. They booked into a hotel (thankfully, there was a very small number of shamans there; Ren suspected that this was because Lyzerg had unknowingly set them a few miles south of their planned route, but it wasn't that big of a deal), and cleaned up. They were set up two to a room: Daniel was with Lyzerg, Chocolove was with Yoh, Ryu was with HoroHoro, Faust was with Ren (who had objected to rooming with HoroHoro, as the Ainu was a known snorer), while Ash got her own room, for obvious reasons.

After they had all showered, they wandered aimlessly around the town (well, after they hit the first fast food joint they found). Ren walked with his hands in his pockets and his eyes traveled lazily - but somewhat coldly - at the uninteresting sites. A couple of teenage girls walked passed him, giggling when they saw him looking at them, not realizing that they merely passed in front of his line of sight.

He closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation, but bumped into someone before opening them in surprise. He stared, his mouth slightly agape, at Ash.

"Sorry Lenny," she apologized, turning her grey eyes to him, "I stopped a little suddenly."

After a split second, he found his voice. "It's _Ren_," he corrected, hoping that he didn't sound too awkward.

Ash laughed. "Whatever." She stopped laughing and looked to one of the stores on the side of the street sadly. "Damn, I wish I had extra money. I only have ten dollars for food, and the rest is patch money."

Ren was puzzled. "I thought you told me 'foul words make for a foul person'?" He followed her eyes and saw that she was staring longingly at a bookstore. "You want a book?" he asked incredulously.

She shrugged at his first question. "I'm a hypocrite, I admit it." She looked back to him. "And yes, I want a book. Reading is fun!"

Ren crossed his arms and huffed in amusement. "I knew you had a few screws loose," he commented, for once remembering an English phrase.

Ash rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Lenny, that's not news to me. And what's wrong with books?"

Ren thought a moment before answering. "Well, there's nothing wrong with them, but-"

"But what?" she interrupted. "How many books have you read?"

"I've read numerous textbooks on many languages, the world's geography, and-"

Ash interrupted him again. "No wonder you're such a stick in the mud!"

"A _what_?!" he asked, growing angry.

She ignored his question. "You've never read fiction, have you?"

Ren scoffed. "Fiction is for children."

Suddenly, she grabbed his hand and started pulling him toward the bookstore. "We're going in there and we're not leaving until you've read at least one book that I approve of."

Ren's face heated at her touch, and he heard muffled laughter from the boys behind him as Ash dragged him into the bookstore.

Daniel watched Ash drag Ren off with a frown on his face. He liked that she was fun and unpredictable - a tomboy, even - but he had never been good around girls. In truth, they scared the living daylights out of him (as they should).

Suddenly, Yoh grabbed his wrist. "C'mon, let's hurry," the carefree shaman urged, tugging on Daniel's arm.

A little reluctant, Daniel obliged, hurrying after Yoh. He realized that the others were already ahead of them.

"What's going on?" he asked, matching Yoh's running pace.

Yoh smiled. "We're ditching them."

----------

Ash smiled as she shot a quick glace at Ren. The Chinese shaman sat in the corner of the reading section, already nearly finished with _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_.* She had picked that out especially, the _Harry Potter_ series being one of her favorites. At first, Ren had complained as she scanned the shelves for a book, but after shoving the book in his hands and instructing him to go and read it, he had stayed quiet, completely engrossed in the book.

_This was a job well done,_ Ash congratulated herself as she went back to scanning the shelves. But, though she was proud, she was _bored._ Though Ren was a fast reader, she didn't have much patience, and the books on the shelves either didn't interest her, or she had already read them.

"I'm finished."

Ash jumped, surprised, nearly dropping the book she was looking at. She turned around to see an embarrassed-looking Ren standing behind her, holding the book out to her.

"Gosh Lenny, give me a heart attack, why don't you?" she said, taking the book from him.

"I didn't mean to!" he said defensively.

"Shh!" someone suddenly hissed. They both turned to see a little girl sitting in a chair reading a book. She couldn't be much older than five or six.

"Be quiet, mister!" she whispered fiercely. "You're loud and annoying."

Ren blinked, surprised, but didn't say anything. Ash, on the other hand, had to press her hand against her mouth to keep from laughing. Quickly, she put the books back on the shelf (unfortunately, not where they had found them) and pulled Ren out of the store. Once outside, she burst out in a fit of giggles, holding her sides in an effort to calm herself.

Ren's face grew pink. "What are you laughing about?!"

"You just got told off by a little girl," Ash explained between giggles. She took a breath to calm herself, and then asked, "Did you like the book?"

Ren crossed his arms. "It was enjoyable, I suppose."

Ash rolled her eyes, then suddenly seemed to notice something and she looked around. "Where is everyone?"

Ren cast his eyes around the street, but there was no sign of Yoh or the others. "Maybe they sent me a message," he said, pulling out his phone. He scrolled through the list of messages (most from his sister) and found one from HoroHoro in Japanese.

'_-- Hey Ren, you and Ash have fun now, okay? Don't stay out to late, you crazy fools. - HoroHoro'_

Ren's fingers shook at the message. He was going to kill these bastards!

"What does it say?" Ash asked, peeking at his phone. "Oh… It's in Japanese."

"They got tired of waiting, so they ditched us," Ren explained, obviously deciding not to relay what the message actually said. _Damn these fools… they're going to-_

Ash interrupted his thoughts. "They're probably not at the hotel. Let's go find them!" She grabbed his hand and started dragging him down the street.

Ren felt his face heat up again. "Would you stop dragging me?" he asked harshly, trying to pull his hand out of Ash's grip.

"Sorry," Ash said, letting go of his hand. Though Ren thought that she didn't sound very sorry.

Suddenly, she gasped and ran towards a store at the side of the street. Ren resisted the urge to rub his temples as he followed her. _Now I have to baby-sit… This is not my day, as usual._

"It's the middle of November, and you want _ice cream_?" Ren asked incredulously as he caught up to her.

"Oh yeah, because it's _so cold_ in the desert." Ash's voice dripped with sarcasm. "What do you want?" she asked him as she paid the cashier for her chocolate ice cream.

Ren crossed his arms. "I don't want ice cream; it's fattening."

"Way to sound like a girl, Lenny," Ash said. "Get him vanilla," she told the cashier, giving him a couple more dollars.

"It's _Ren_," he corrected. "And I told you, I don't want anything!" _This girl is so damn frustrating!_

She ignored him and thanked the cashier. She took the cup of vanilla ice cream and shoved it in Ren's hands before hurriedly eating her own.

Ren sighed in exasperation as they walked back into the street. "You're going to get a brain freeze." He wasn't sure why he tried to warn her.

Ash shrugged and swallowed another mouthful before answering. "My dad told me that you can't truly enjoy something without knowing the pain that comes with it. It's what I go by."

Ren looked thoughtfully at his cup of ice cream as they continued walking. A little hesitantly, he spooned a mouthful and ate it. The next spoonful wasn't as hesitant.

_

* * *

_

***Nope, I don't own Harry Potter either, I just included it to make the story more realistic sounding.**

**Is this fluff-like? I know, Ren blushed a million times in this chapter, but I can't help it, okay?! XD I hope at least he didn't sound OOC.... I hope he doesn't sound OOC at all o.O**

**There's a button to make me work faster. It's called the review button. :O Hahaha nah it's always optional.**


	9. Tease

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own Shaman King.**

**Egh, this is short. But I have to make up schoolwork and this is basically filler anyways. Enjoy, the next chapter might not be up for a while.**

**Nine: Tease**

"I don't think they're on this street either…" Ash said as they walked down the shop-lined street.

Ren nodded in agreement. Both had long-since finished their ice cream, and had been looking for the others for at least an hour.

Suddenly, he stopped. "I cannot believe I didn't think of this sooner. Bason?" he asked, and the Chinese warrior appeared beside him.

"What is it, Master Ren?" Bason inquired.

"Where are the others' spirits?"

"We are _so_ stupid," Ash commented, putting her palm up to her forehead.

Bason thought for a moment before pointing. "That way."

"That's toward the hotel," Ash realized.

"Gosh you're stupid," Ren said, beginning to walk again. "You said they probably wouldn't be at the hotel, but guess what, they are!"

Ash stomped after Ren. "And _you_ could have thought of asking our spirits a long time ago, you numbskull!"

"It's your fault for distracting me."

"How the hell did I distract you?!"

"Well, for one, you insist on dragging me everywhere," Ren retorted. "_And_ you made me eat that ice cream."

Ash rolled her eyes. "I didn't _make_ you, and besides: you know you liked it."

"I did not!" Ren lied furiously. Being alone with Ash was _really_ starting to irk him. Actually, it had started to irk him half an hour ago. Though she was boyish, she was one of those people who had a hard time shutting up, at least after having sugar.

"Whatever. Ice cream's not a big deal," she said suddenly. "Though you liked it."

"Shut up!" he yelled, fed up. "Why can't you be quiet for _two damn minutes_?!"

Ash shrugged furiously but said nothing as they rounded a corner and came upon their hotel. They hurried inside and rode the elevator up to their floor in silence.

For Ren, it was an awkward silence. Though he had asked for it, he hadn't expected her sudden quietness. _I don't want you to hate me…_ he realized. He pushed the thought away. Ren Tao? Caring about what others thought? Preposterous.

But still, it seemed like a gift from the Great Spirits themselves when the elevator finally stopped at their level and they headed down the hall.

"I'll be right back…" Ash said quietly as she slipped into her room.

Ren nodded and turned to the other side of the hall. By the muffled sound of it, his companions seemed to be in Yoh's room. He let out a sigh, put on his 'I will kill you' face, and opened the door without a sound.

He came into the room to see Yoh, HoroHoro, Ryu, and Faust (yes, Faust) playing a video game, while the others lounged about or cheered them on. Ren closed the door without turning around, and glared silently at them, waiting for them to notice him.

It was a few moments before Chocolove looked up. "Oh no…" he whispered. He stood suddenly and pointed at Ren. "Where did you put her body?!"

"You absolute _dolt_," Ren retorted harshly. "She'll be here in a minute, which gives me plenty of time to murder you all."

He was about to take out his Kwan Dao when HoroHoro was suddenly beside him, elbowing him in the stomach. "She's kinda cute, isn't she?"

Ren's face flushed in embarrassment and anger, and he opened his mouth to argue.

"Saying anything else about her would be pretty rude, wouldn't it, Ren?" Yoh said before Ren could speak.

Ren's body shook with anger, and his bangs were lightly shadowing his eyes, making the golden color somehow seem more intense. "Thanks to you, I had to baby-sit the most annoying girl in history!"

"No one said you _had _to," HoroHoro pointed out, jumping out of Ren's reach.

"Ah, young love," Faust cooed, Ryu beginning to cry passionately at his words.

Ren's face grew a deep shade of red (if Jun saw it she would have said it was candy-apple-red, but she wasn't there, was she?) but he was shaking so badly that the boys were unsure if he was embarrassed, or absolutely deadly.

"What's going on?" Ash asked as she opened the door, ignorant to the conversation they were all having at Ren's expense.

"I'm going for a walk," Ren announced loudly. "No one follow me," he added darkly. The Chinese shaman's bangs completely hid his eyes as he turned and stalked passed Ash (who pressed herself against the doorframe to make room for him) out into the hallway.

Ash stared after him for a second, then blinked confusedly at the boys. "What happened to him?" _I know he wasn't all that happy with me before, but he seems a lot angrier…_

"He's just mad because we ditched you guys," HoroHoro said quickly.

Ash fully entered the room and closed the door, then crossed her arms. "Why _did_ you guys ditch us? Ren said because you are were bored, right?"

Chocolove opened his mouth as if to say something, but Yoh beat him to it. "Yeah, we were just bored."

Faust held up his controller. "You can play if you want, Ash. I'm not very good at this racing game."

She was across the room in barely a second, taking the controller with a quick word of thanks before smirking challengingly at her opponents of the game.

----------

The sky was darkening, and the air was cooling. Ren walked down a nearly-rapidly emptying street as people hurried on their way home from a day or shopping or working. Most stores would be open for at least another hour or two, so there were still a few shoppers wandering the street.

_There was a time when I would have cursed them all…_ _Now the only people I curse are my friends. _He couldn't help but huff with laughter at the added thought, purposely lightening the mood of his first thought. He was trying to keep his mind busy; he didn't want to be angry, nor did he want to think about the events of the day. He had to admit it had been fun for a little while, but it had gone downhill fast.

A chill breeze blew passed his neck, and he hunched his shoulders so his scarf would cover him more.

"I guess it's too late for ice cream…" a young-sounding feminine voice said as a couple walked hurriedly passed his slow-paced walk.

Ren shifted his eyes to them, and they widened in surprise as he realized the voice belonged to a tall blonde who looked about sixteen. Her voice had been child-like, as if she needed someone to hold her hand whenever she met someone new.

The boy who walked beside her had dark hair, and he seemed to be a little older than her, and his voice was much, much more matured. "No, it's too late, Teen." _Teen?_ Ren thought, bewildered. _Why would you call someone 'teen'?"_

"Why can't we stay in town again?" she asked the boy.

"I told you." Ren had to strain his ears and walk a little faster to catch up with them in order to hear the boy's words. "We have to get there as soon as possible if we want a third teammate."

_They're shamans!_ Ren realized, quickening his pace even more but still keeping his distance from them.

"Besides," the boy continued, "there are shaman in the area. We have to hurry."

Ren blinked, thoroughly confused. _They're looking for a third teammate, yet they're running from other shaman… Well, I guess they could be afraid of being defeated before they get to Patch Village. But still, this is odd…_

Suddenly, Ren saw the boy cast a quick backwards glance at him. Instead of stopping, Ren continued at his pace, but slipped into a coffee shop nonchalantly, as if that had been his destination the entire time.

He watched the couple continue down the street until he couldn't see them anymore. _Who are they? Why are they running from shamans? This doesn't feel right. I'd better get back to the others. I'm calm enough now, anyway; but if HoroHoro has one smart remark…!_

Though still perturbed, he smirked as he headed back out into he street, thinking about where to bury HoroHoro's body… It was a mental joke, of course.

* * *

**Okay, I have schoolwork to make up, so no new chapter may be up for a little while, but don't worry, I won't forget about you guys. :)**

**And ugh, I don't like how this chapter ended, but I'm to lazy to change it. XD Oh, and you don't expect Ren and Ash to be all friendly all the time, do you? Ash is like a girl mix of Yoh and HoroHoro, of course her and Ren would clash, at least a little bit.**

**Oh, and the boy saying "Teen" and Ren thinking "teen" (see the uppercase and lowercase?) are intentional.**

**Even though I'm busy, it's no trouble to check for reviews! *hinthint* xD**


	10. Gritty Water

**DISCLALIMER: Nope, Shaman King does not belong to me.**

**Aiyiyi... short chapter, short chapter! D8 I fail so bad. But the next chapter should definately be longer, and I didn't want to mesh the two together. And, I realized that Ren probably would have gone after the two strangers himself, but then I reasoned that he would only do it if he knew they were an immediate threat. So just go by that, okay? xD**

**Ten: Gritty Water**

The boy stopped. The girl - Teen - took another few steps before she realized that he wasn't beside her. She turned back to him, surprised.

"Are we going to rest?" she asked quietly, yet slightly happily.

The boy nodded, his eyes scanning the darkening, flat desert. "We'll be well protected here."

The girl nodded sleepily and lowered herself down onto her knees, then onto her side, wrapping herself into a ball, hiding herself under her coat.

The boy looked back the way they had come. They couldn't be more than a mile or two outside of the town. He knew they had the means to protect themselves here, but he couldn't be careless. Besides, that boy with the spike hairstyle had heard him talking to Teen.

"Keep an eye out," he told no living being in particular before lying down beside his companion's back.

----------

Ash rummaged in her backpack, the door to her room ajar. Yoh had let her listen to some of his music (though she couldn't understand a word of it) and she wanted to find her CD player to show him her music.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her, and she looked out into the hall to see Ren standing in the doorway to Yoh's room. He didn't look seem to be mad anymore, but she couldn't see his face.

Almost unconsciously, she zipped her backpack back up and stood, picking the backpack up by one of its straps. She walked into the hallway, closing her door behind her, and followed Ren as he entered Yoh's room.

"There you are!" HoroHoro exclaimed, jumping up from one of the beds. "We all thought you ran away," he added teasingly.

Ash didn't need to see Ren's face to know that his eyes were narrowed, but the Chinese shaman said nothing about HoroHoro's remark. Instead, he said something completely unexpected.

"I saw other shamans."

"Where?" Ash asked.

Ren quickly turned around to look at her, his eyes surprised. "Out on one of the streets." His voice was different than before; a little slower, almost a little quieter, and his eyes held some unreadable emotion.

_I hope he's not still mad at me,_ Ash thought, knowing that Ren must be thinking about the last time he spoke to her. When they had both been angry at each other.

Ren continued, his eyes still unreadable. "There were two of them, about sixteen or so. The girl wanted to go to a hotel, but the boy said that there were shamans in the area - namely us."

"Are you two going to talk all day?" HoroHoro asked, referring to the fact that Ren was facing away from them. A smirk plastered on the Ainu's face for a reason Ash didn't know.

For a fraction of a second while Ren's face was hidden from the boys, his face froze in surprise, and his cheeks heated, but the next moment, his face hardened and he turned to glare at HoroHoro.

"I'm trying to tell you all something important," he stated angrily.

"What else did they say?" Yoh asked, distracting Ren away from his thoughts of destroying the Ainu.

Ren shrugged off his earlier annoyance. "Nothing much else. But the girl sounded like she was five and the boy called her 'teen.'"

"Shit!" Ash suddenly snarled, slipping her backpack on and whipping around and dashing out the door, running down the hall.

The boys stared at the spot she had disappeared from for a few moments.

"What the hell…?" HoroHoro scratched his head, while Chocolove's eye was squinted in confusion.

Daniel was the first to move. He sprinted out the door after her, not uttering a single word. After a moment's hesitation, Ren hurried after him. Once the Chinese warrior left, the others looked at each other in confusing before running after them as well.

----------

"Keep a lookout for them, Shui," Ash instructed as she ran down the nearly-empty street, her backpack bouncing with each stride. "But stay close."

The wind spirit nodded and disappeared from sight.

Ash dodged the occasional late-night shopper as she ran to the outskirts of the town. _Those bastards… well, __**bastard**__, will pay…_

The dark desert was mostly flat, with the occasional rise and fall of a slope. There was no protection from the elements (the only element at the time being the coolness of the night), but the darkness impaired Ash's vision. Behind her, she could hear her name being called out faintly by her friends, but she paid them no heed, only quickening her pace. She was not going to stop for anyone.

Shui suddenly appeared beside her. "They are just ahead of us. Get ready, Mistress."

If not for the seriousness of the situation, Ash would have berated her spirit for using formalities, but she only pulled her baton out of her sleeve, and quickly oversouled Shui into it.

It was good timing, because when she reached the next rise, Ash was looking down at the people she had once called her friends.

'Teen' stood behind the boy, her whip oversouled into a snake. Her eyes were shaded by her bangs, but her stance was battle-ready. The boy had a smirk on his face, his trident pointing at Ash.

"Hey there, Ashy," he greeted, like this was nothing more than a meeting between friends at a restaurant.

"You shit-head." Ash's voice vibrated with anger, and she tightened her grip on her baton, taking a threatening step forward. "And _don't_ call me Ashy like you're still my friend, because you're _not,_ Tony. I hate you, and I'll _destroy _you."

Tony smirked. "You really think you can take the both of us down by yourself? Don't think we're not unprepared."

Ash stood her ground, but while her anger mounted, her confidence faltered. Tony was always one step ahead of everyone; why wouldn't he be now, even if he wasn't in his spirit's element? Unless…

"Ash! What's going--"

Daniel broke off and stopped beside Ash when he saw the two strangers. He made to draw his sword from its sheathe, but Tony interrupted him.

"You won't be needing your weapon, stranger. I can send you both miles away with just one attack."

Ash's eyes widened. "No… You bastard!" _Shit! Absolute shit. We're in danger._

At that moment, Ren ran up on Ash's other side. "What the hell is going on!?"

"Ah, the eavesdropper boy," Tony noted. "Don't bother taking out your weapon, you won't have enough time to use it anyway. One false move and the underground spring won't be underground anymore. And Ashy," he said, turning his attention back to the girl, "who are these boys? Your bodyguards or your boyfriends?"

Both boys stiffened, but Ash didn't notice. "They're my friends, Tony, unlike you!"

"Can you do it already?" Teen asked Tony slowly. "I'm tired."

"Christina!" Ash cried out, taking a step forward. "I know none of this was--"

"Shut up!" Tony interrupted. He slashed his trident though the air, and the earth beneath Ash's, Daniel's, and Ren's feet seemed to explode as a surge of water blasted out at an angle.

The sandy water hit them so hard that the breath was knocked out of Ash immediately, and her world went black.

As the water hit them, Daniel instinctively grabbed Ash's wrist, and he gripped her tightly as the torrent rocketed them away.

* * *

**Hehe... the next chapter will probably be one of my faveorites to write, I can just tell. And you'll see what happens, cookies go to those who can guess, though you probably won't get it. ;) (And yes, the cookies are imaginary, you fools. xD)**


	11. Intervention

**DISCLAIMER: No, Shaman King is not mine.**

Okay, before I forget,** Ash is not pretty. She's cute, just a step under pretty. She has the potential to be pretty. If she was pretty or gorgeous, she'd be a Mary Sue. I don't like Mary Sues. So, she is not pretty. Got it? Good. XD**

**Woot! Longer chapter! Yay! As I thought, this was fun to write. Hehe. Oh, and there's a small part in here that I would consider 'T', but it's not bad, it's only like two lines or so. I'd actually consider it just a tiny step over K+, but that's just me. It's not even really said, just implied. I'll shut up now. Enjoy!**

**Eleven: Intervention**

"Bocchama! Bocchama, wake up!"

Ren struggled to wakefulness. His head was pounding, and his clothes felt stiff and gritty with sand. He sat up, squinting at the bright sunlight, and ran a hand through his dirty hair, realizing that his tongari had already begun to straighten back out, but a few strands of his hair stuck out from around his hairstyle.

"Bocchama!" Bason cried, in his spirit ball form. The red blob of an ancient Chinese warrior pressed his cheek against his master's, much like a puppy would.

"Ugh, _get off me_, Bason!" Ren cried, pushing his Guardian Ghost away from him.

Bason began to circle Ren's head. "I thought Bocchama would never get up!"

Ren swatted his spirit away, annoyed. Wait… "Get up from what?"

Suddenly, it hit him. The strangers, running through the desert, getting hit by the blast of water, Ash--

Ren looked wildly around, his eyes and head moving so fast that he almost didn't see the two figures lying on the ground a few yards away from him. Both were unconscious, the girl splayed on her side with her backpack somehow still clinging on her with its straps, and the boy was lying on his stomach, his face twisted to the side. Daniel's hand was limply clutched around Ash's wrist.

Something stirred inside Ren as he saw this, but he immediately pushed it down. He made to stand, but his legs were stiff and nearly collapsed under him. He grunted and walked stiffly over to the two, refusing to fall. With each step, his legs grew more usable as they grew less stiff.

Shui and Cameron were both trying to wake their masters, but they were failing. Shui, being a wind spirit, blew herself through Ash's hair in an attempt to wake her, while Cameron tried to shake his master awake, but failed because he had no physical form at the moment.

Ren kneeled down beside the two. "Are they breathing?" he asked.

"They're fine," Cameron said, still attempting to shake his master. "But they won't wake up."

Ren looked to Bason. "The others were following us. Where are they?"

"I do not know, Bocchama. All I know is that we're a few miles away from where we were before."

"Miles?" Ren frowned in confusion. "By just a blast of water?" He shook his head. He couldn't think about that. He had to wake these guys up.

He reached out to shake Ash's shoulder, but hesitated, and opted to shake Daniel's shoulder instead.

"Wake up, you imbecile," he muttered, shaking the boy harder.

Daniel groaned and squeezed his eyes before opening them. He blinked in confusion as Ren retracted his hand, then sat straight up. He blinked again, this time in pain, holding his head in his hands.

"Better not get up to fast," the brown haired boy mumbled to himself before looking back up. He looked around, then noticed that Ash was still unconscious. "Why didn't you wake her up first?!" he asked, pulling himself onto his hands and knees, crawling over to her side.

Before he could shake her, Ren held out his hand on impulse to stop Daniel. "She'll wake up when she wants to," the Chinese warrior said. "Send your spirit out to look for the others. I'm sure Shui won't leave Ash's side, and I'm the strongest here; we can't be defenseless."

Immediately, Ren felt stupid. Because of his pounding head, he couldn't remember if you were supposed to wake an unconscious victim or not, though he felt pretty sure that you were supposed to. But now, if he woke up Ash, he'd look like a fool.

Daniel stared at Ren. After a moment, the brown haired shaman relaxed the muscles he hadn't known he'd been tensing. "Cameron, go look for the others, please."

"Milord," Cameron uttered quickly and submissively before hurrying off in his silver spirit ball form.

Ren stood and brushed the sand out of his hair and off his clothes. After a moment, Daniel stood as well, wincing at the stiffness in his legs.

"What do you think that was all about?" Daniel asked after another moment of silence, referring to the night before.

Ren crossed his arms in thought. "I don't know. But she does."

He looked down at Ash. Though her position on the ground seemed somewhat painful or uncomfortable, her face was pretty peaceful, unlike it was the last time she had been awake. Peaceful, not pretty. Definitely not pretty.

Shui moved again to try to wake her mistress with a breath of wind, but Ash stirred. Both boys stiffened and watched as Ash blinked her eyes open, first in confusion, then in growing agitation…

"Ashley!" Shui cried, circling her mistress like Bason had done to Ren. "Mistress Ashle--"

"Where is it?!" Ash asked, springing up onto her hands and knees, searching for something in the hard sand. She crawled furiously, reaching her hands out for something like she was in the dark.

Ren took a hesitant step toward her, bewildered by her actions. He opened his mouth to try to say something, but he never got around to saying it.

Ash suddenly grasped her missing baton, then scrambled to her feet, running away from the boys. She stumbled, however, as her legs were weak, and feel onto her knees. She hurried back to her feet, to run straight into Ren.

"Where are you going?" he growled. His head was still pounding a little, and running in front of the girl didn't help.

"Get out of my way!" she said hurriedly, attempting to shove Ren out of the way, but failing. "I can't let them get away. I have to--"

Ren grabbed one of her arms and twisted it slightly, immobilizing her a little. "You're in no condition to go anywhere. You've been hurt, and attacking when you're angry doesn't help. You don't even know where they are!"

A moment later, Ren realized his mistake in only grabbing one of her arms as she swung her other at him, her baton in her hand. He ducked, narrowly dodging the attack, and she took the opportunity to snatch her arm away from him. She quickly backed away from him, shedding her backpack, and oversouled Shui into the baton, sliding into a battle stance.

"I will beat you out of my way if I have you," she threatened.

Ren pulled out his Kwan Dao, calmly infusing Bason into the Chinese spear. "I don't know what they did to you, but fighting with anger is not the answer. If you attack me, I will fight back."

Daniel watched, frozen. What were they doing?! Why were they fighting? They were all still tired and weak; shouldn't they be spending their time trying to find the others instead of this?

Ash let out a battle cry and sent a Gale Blade to Ren, who neatly dodged the attack with a jump. Growling with frustration, she sent another Gale Blade at him, but he nimbly slashed at it in midair with his Kwan Dao, dissipating the attack before landing on the ground.

"Fighting with anger makes you unfocused," Ren said as he straightened up. He pointed his Kwan Dao at her. "I will fight you for however long it takes until you learn this." Even though he was battling, Ren was suddenly battered with self-consciousness. _I sound like a sap…_ Thinking quickly, he added, "I cannot have my teammates potentially hurt themselves. It's a nuisance to find another teammate so that I may become Shaman King."

"Shut _up_!" Ash screeched, curving the air around her baton into an Air Blade before rushing at her opponent. She slashed at him, but he blocked the attack easily. She pulled her arms back and struck again, but Ren still blocked with absolute ease. She struck at him repeatedly, each swing with more force, but also with less accuracy. Ren didn't seem to be fazed.

_Stop it already…_ he thought as he blocked her attack for what felt like the fiftieth time. _Stop being angry… It doesn't help anyone._ Tears of frustration were welling in Ash's eyes as she continued to slash at him. Her hand slipped off of her hold on her weapon as she tried uppercutting at him, and her skin slid across the edge of the Kwan Dao, drawing blood.

Suddenly, she stopped attacking. She stood with her left hand at her side, holding her baton; her bloodied right hand was in front her face, her mouth agape.

Ren lowered his weapon, but he was still uneasy. "Are you finished now?" he asked, his voice betraying no emotion.

_THUD._ Ren stumbled backward, bringing his hand up to the side of his stinging mouth. He was utterly speechless.

"That's for saying that I'm just a tool for you to become Shaman King," Ash said, pulling her arm back and unclenching her fist. "But I know you didn't mean it. Thanks for helping me, Ren. I'm sorry."

Ren blinked. He noticed that she hadn't called him 'Lenny.' She must be really serious. "Uh… no problem." He pointed to her hand, desperate to change the subject. "Do you need your hand bandaged?"

"Uh, yeah," she said, looking behind her. "I should have some stuff in my bag if it's not soaked…"

"I'll get it," he offered, walking swiftly to where she had dropped her backpack. Ash followed behind him a little more slowly.

Daniel hurriedly (though somehow hesitantly) ran up to her. "Are you… okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said somewhat shyly as she held up her hand. "I'm just bleeding a bit."

Ren looked at his Kwan Dao. Ash's blood was running down the blade, and he suddenly felt repulsed. He pushed it into the ground to cleanse it as much as possible before he took out a cloth and wiped the remaining blood off of it before breaking the weapon back up to put in his coat.

He kneeled down beside her backpack and reached for a zipper. Suddenly, Ash snatched up her backpack with her good hand.

"Not that zipper!" she nearly shrieked. She looked down at her shoes. "…My clothes are in that one."

Daniel was immediately quiet, but Ren didn't understand. "What?"

Ash couldn't help but roll her eyes, albeit both embarrassedly and somewhat angrily. "…_All_ my clothes."

Understanding clicked in Ren's mind as his eyes widened and his cheeks reddened. "O-oh," he stuttered, looking down. "…Sorry."

It was a moment before Daniel broke the awkward silence. "Uh… your hand is still bleeding."

"Right." Ash set her backpack down and opened the smallest pocket, pulling out a first-aid kit. She tried to open it, but hissed in pain when her cut made contact with the plastic.

"I'll do it," Ren said impatiently, his face normal now, as he took the box from her. He opened it and pulled out a roll of bandages and an alcohol wipe. "This'll sting," he said as he took her hand and wiped her cut.

Ash winced but said nothing. Ren picked up the roll of bandages and was beginning to wrap her hand when he heard shouting.

He twisted his head around to see Cameron appearing over a rise, Yoh, HoroHoro, Lyzerg, and the rest following him.

"Took you long enough," he called before turning back to wrap Ash's hand.

The others hurried up to them. "What happened?" Yoh asked, pointing to Ash's hand.

Ash shrugged. "Lenny just taught me a lesson. Nothing major."

Everyone sweat-dropped. "What do you mean, 'lesson'?" HoroHoro asked, narrowing his eyes.

Ren stood and put on a look of nonchalance. "Be grateful, Ainu. I prevented her from risking her neck in the desert. Getting injured was her fault anyway."

HoroHoro narrowed his eyes and looked to Ash, who nodded. Reluctantly, HoroHoro relaxed.

"What took you so long to find us?" Ren continued.

"We saw you guys get clobbered by that water, then the same thing happened to us. But we were blown the other way," Yoh supplied. He looked back to Ash. "…By the way, who were those people?"

* * *

**No, Horo does not like Ash. Well, he did an ishbit (a little bit XD) in the beginning, but right now she just kind of reminds him of Pirika. Note the bit of protectiveness. Brotherly protectiveness. Actually, I think most of them consider her like a sister... well, except Ryu, but he's Ryu. No one can help him. **


	12. Pity

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, Shaman King is not mine.**

**I know the name of Christina's spirit is not original. But do you think she could come up with an original name? I thought not. And I might've taken a few liberties with the 'bond between Hao and his companions' but I have my reasons...**

**Unless I have anything important to say, I'm going to stop putting author notes at the bottom of the page. Don't blame me if I forget to do that. I'm forgetful.**

**Iron Maiden Jeanne is mentioned in this chapter. Of course, with her comes a very slight mention of Christianity. Sorry about that if you don't like it.**

**Twelve: Pity**

Ash's eyes hardened. "'They' were my old teammates."

"You mean, they're Hao's followers?" Lyzerg asked.

Ash nodded and crossed her arms. "Tony's spirit is named Poseidon, though I highly doubt he's the true Poseidon from legend. Christina's is Viper. No need to say that that's a snake."

Ash's voice was so full of scorn and underlined with hurt that Ren hardly recognized it. _What did they do to you, exactly?_ he wondered. Though his face kept a mildly interested expression, his eyebrows twitched so that his eyes became narrowed, and he clenched his fist.

Lyzerg hesitated. "What did they do to you?"

Ash turned away so that she wasn't looking at them. "Didn't I say it already? They betrayed me for Hao, and…" She trailed off and rubbed her arm unconsciously. "…He almost killed me."

----------

"_We must pray for them," the silver-haired girl - Jeanne - said, clasping her hands together. Around her, other shamans did the same._

'_Ugh, what a girl…' Ash thought, Jeanne's voice rubbing her the wrong way. But she had to admit, at this point, praying was all she could do. She made to bring her hands together, but someone grabbed her hand._

"_Tony?" she asked, looking up at her teammate in confusion._

"_We have to hurry," he urged, tugging her along. Christina followed them closely; she seemed uncharacteristically alert. Well, more alert than usual._

"_Where are we going? Why are you dragging me, Tony?" Ash asked, trying to pull her hand away from the older boy but failing._

_Tony didn't answer, but he continued to pull her._

"_Where are we going?!" Ash asked, digging her heels into the ground to try and stop._

"…_The Path to the Holy Ground of the Stars…" Christina said dreamily, answering for Tony._

"_Why the hell are we going there? We can't help at this point!" Ash exclaimed. She had failed to stop Tony, but she was still trying. With a grunt, she pulled her hand out of Tony's grasp._

_Suddenly, Tony whipped around and slapped her. Utterly surprised, Ash made to bring her hand up to her stinging cheek, but Tony grabbed it._

_This couldn't' be happening. Yes, Tony was usually stubborn, but he had always been kind to her and Christina. He was their leader. He took care of them. He was like their brother._

"_We're going to help Hao-sama," Tony growled, tugging on her arm again._

_In spite of herself and the situation, the first thing that she blurted out was, "When did you start using Japanese honorifics?"_

_Suddenly, Ash was dumbfounded. "W-what did you say…?"_

"_I said," Tony repeated, his voice edged with agitation, "we're going to help Hao-sama."_

_He began to drag her again, but this time, Ash retracted her arm on her first try. Tony turned back around to see her staring at him._

"_What kind of sick joke is this?" she asked, her voice quiet. "You know how much I despise his ideals… He wants no humans… my father was human, Tony, you know that."_

_Tony's eyes softened. "Hao-sama will forgive you for that."_

_Ash stiffened. "Forgive me? For what?! Being a half-breed bastard?! There's no difference between shamans and humans. Just because we can see and talk to spirits and they can't doesn't mean that we're better than them!"_

_Tony frowned sadly and shook his head. "I knew we should have brought you to your senses sooner, but Hao-sama said that you would understand him better when he became Shaman King."_

"_Like hell I need to be brought to my senses!" Ash countered. Suddenly, her voice became desperate. "Tony, you need to snap out of this. You need to stop this joke. It's not funny anymore."_

_Tony growled, his eyes becoming cold once again. "How dare you call Hao-sama's dream a joke! He will create a world where only shamans exist. There will be no one to tell us that we're freaks! We will finally be accepted!"_

_Ash couldn't believe her ears. "Accepted? By what? Nothing will exist to accept us." She turned to Christina. "Christina, help--"_

"_Only Hao-sama can receive our help," the blonde replied, her voice even more airy and drone-like than usual. "We must do everything we can for him."_

_Ash didn't know what to do. Her teammates were serious. They were siding with Hao. The entire time she had known them, Tony and Christina had been her friends. They had agreed with her when she had said Hao was a nutcase, but now they were his servants. They were betraying her. They were asking her to go against what she believed._

_Tony reached out to grab her hand again, but she shied away. She froze when she realized she had never done anything like that to him. _

"_Come on," he said again, urgency apparent in his voice. "We need to get to Hao--"_

_Suddenly, both he and Christina grunted in pain and clutched at their sides, their eyes wide._

"_Hao…sama…" Christina whispered, staring intently at something Ash couldn't see._

"_Hao-sama is…losing?" Tony stared at his hands. "How can this be? The bond between Hao-sama and his companions is…deteriorating…"_

_Ash stared at them. How did they become like this? So dependent on a monster… how did it happen without her seeing it?_

"_What's wrong with you two?" she whispered. "Why do you want so much for him to become Shaman King? Why are you betraying me?"_

_Tony tensed and growled, "We're not betraying you! We're helping you! We're helping all shamans!" He suddenly winced in pain. "No… Hao-sama…"_

_Suddenly, a wild light burned in his eyes. "This is YOUR FAULT!" he screeched, slapping Ash with so much force that he knocked her to the ground._

_Ash let out a squeak of pain as she landed on her tailbone. She looked up at Tony with wide eyes._

"_Mistress Ashley!" Shui exclaimed, appearing in her spirit ball form beside her master. "Get up! We have to fight back!"_

_But Ash stayed frozen on the ground as Tony pulled out his trident. He advanced toward her, putting Poseidon in the weapon without a word. _

"_Mistress!" Shui urged again, but Ash didn't move. The girl stared wide-eyed up at the boy, who raised his trident, pointing the prongs at her._

"_T-Tony…" she whispered pleadingly. This wasn't him. It couldn't be. Tony wasn't like this! He was kind and caring, not murderous…_

_He ignored her plea, and stabbed forward with his weapon. Ash squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable, but it never came. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes to see Christina's whip wrapped around Tony's trident, preventing him from attacking._

_For once, Christina's eyes were clear and focused, though her voice was still light and nearly uncaring of anything. "Tony, there's no need to do this. Remember, only Hao-sama decides who lives and who doesn't in anything that concerns him."_

_Tony growled, but reluctantly pulled back his trident. "… You have a point, Teen. But we're leaving you here," he added harshly to Ash._

_Ash watched from her position on the ground as Tony took Christina's hand and led her away._

----------

Ash was trembling. "They betrayed my trust." Her voice was strained with controlled rage. "Well… _he _did. But I don't blame Christina. She was in a car accident when she was little, and her brain can't mature. She doesn't know any better; she only knows that she's supposed to follow Tony since they were childhood friends. But he…" She trailed off.

Ren's fist was clenched and shaking. What sort of sick bastard would slap a girl?! Twice! _If I ever see that bastard I'm going to make him beg for his life.__The shit-head will be so mutilated no one will be able to identify his body._

Similar thoughts were echoing in the other boys' heads. "He should be ashamed of himself!" Ryu exclaimed. "I say he should be taught a lesson he'll never forget!"

"Yeah!" HoroHoro agreed angrily. "If we ever see him again, we'll make sure to beat the shit outta him!"

Ash stayed silent and stared at the ground. She hated being the center of attention like this. Like she was weak and helpless and that she needed to be babied. Like she needed other people to protect her. What she hated even more was the fact that she didn't have the courage to speak out and tell them that she didn't need to be protected. And if someone noticed her silence, they would speak up for her, and the process would repeat itself…

Ren noticed her silence and guessed that she must not like all the attention. He knew that he wouldn't like being pitied. Thinking quickly, he spoke up. "That's nice and all," he said, addressing the boys, "but we can't focus on that now. We're all tired and hungry, and we left our bags at the hotel."

Almost reluctantly, the boys muttered agreement. Pretty soon, they were all off again, heading for the town (Cameron had seen it in the distance when he had been looking for the others, so they knew the way).

As they walked, Ren stayed near the back, keeping away from everyone so that his head could have a chance to finish pounding.

"Thanks Ren."

Ren stiffened in surprise and looked up to see Ash walking to his right, just a few paces ahead of him. Regaining his composure quickly, he shrugged like the whole ordeal was nothing. "I was just saving your neck from dying in the desert. It wasn't a big deal."

Ash sighed and shook her head in exasperated amusement. "No, stupid. I mean about just now." Her slight smile turned into a grimace. "I don't like being pitied."

"I know the feeling," Ren agreed. After a moment's hesitation, he added, "And don't look like that. If there's one thing that Yoh's taught us all, it's to keep going."

_Wow Ren, _he told himself, _when the hell did you start sounding like a sap? Get a hold of yourself._

Ash smiled. "Thanks." She looked ahead as if to hurry up with the rest of the group, but looked back. "You know, Lenny, you're not half bad." She smirked. "Be careful. You don't want anyone calling you a softie now, do you?"

Without another word, she trotted after the rest of the group, leaving a flustered Ren. _I-I am NOT soft! Damn girl thinks she can say anything…_


	13. Arguments and Bloody Noses

**DISCLAIMER: May Ren strike you down if you believe that I own Shaman King, because I most certainly do not.**

**I couldn't help but have this chapter "cut." I felt that the scene before the usual "----" (to show that time elapses) was going to go on forever. XD At first, I was going to have this chapter be totally different, but I decided that in the long run, I should just keep the entire group together instead of splitting them up (if they had split up, Ryu was going to suggest they do it to better themselves as a team, but then I decided that with all that went on in the last two chapters, no one would really think that).**

**Ash rolls her eyes a lot. o.o**

**Enjoy! :)**

**Thirteen: Arguments and Bloody Noses**

"You're the dowser, shouldn't you know where the next town is?!" Chocolove asked, obviously pissed.

"S-sorry," Lyserg stammered, fumbling with the map. "We shouldn't be too far…"

"Lay off him Chocolove, he's doing his best," Ash said, not even bothering to turn around. It had been a few days since the incident with Tony and Christina, and they had begun to travel to the next town after spending a day to relax at the last town. And these few days had been filled with petty arguments that were seriously starting to irk her.

She could feel the comedian's glare boring into her head, but it suddenly went away even faster than it had come. _He pities me. They all pity me,_ she thought crossly.

"Relax, everyone," Faust said. "We shouldn't fight amongst ourselves, now, should we?"

Ash kicked at a pebble, saying nothing. She didn't want to argue with Faust; she had some sort of respect for him that held her tongue.

Ren sighed. "Can we just get going? At this rate we'll get to Patch Village in time for the next Tournament in five hundred years!"

Ash rolled her eyes but said nothing, and the group started off again in silence.

After nearly ten minutes of the silence, Chocolove began almost hesitantly, "I spy with my little eye…"

"A rock," Ren deadpanned.

Ash couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter, forgetting her previous mood as Chocolove wondered out loud how Ren could guess what he saw.

Ren gave her a hostile look. "What are you laughing at?"

"Just ignore me," Ash said, struggling to control a giggle. "I laugh at just about anything."

"Great," Ren sighed, shifting his eyes back to look ahead of him, and he muttered under his breath just loud enough for her to hear, "This just keeps getting better and better…"

Chocolove's game of 'I-spy' was played for a few more minutes, and it broke the silence as the boys began to laugh and joke again.

"Hey," Chocolove called out, "why did Ren cross the road?"

Immediately, Ren was at his throat with his Kwan Dao, his golden eyes narrowed. "You finish that sad excuse for a joke and it'll be your last words."

Chocolove nodded, his eyes wide, just as a loud ringing interrupted them. Almost reluctantly, Ren drew away from him and pulled his phone out of his jacket. He sighed. "It's Jun."

He was about to answer it when suddenly a blue streak shot by him, grabbing the phone out of his hand and freezing his arms and legs in an instant.

HoroHoro shouted something excitedly in Japanese to Kororo (which gave Ash all the more reason to want to learn the language) before flipping open Ren's phone.

Ren struggled in his icy confinement, but Kororo kept a steady stream of icy air on him to keep him from being able to shatter the ice. "What the hell are you doing?!" he asked, continuing to shout in Japanese as well as other languages.

HoroHoro ignored him and told 'Jun' in a loud voice what sounded like an excuse as to why Ren wasn't able to answer before promptly hanging up and giving Ren a cheeky grin.

Everyone was appalled. Everyone except Ash, who didn't know what HoroHoro had said. She just looked confused. The boys looked from HoroHoro to Ren nervously, and Ash could have sworn that they shot a glance at her as well.

The Chinese boy's mouth hung open and his face was redder than Ash had ever seen it, though she couldn't tell if he was embarrassed or angry or perhaps both, and he was silent. Well, not silent, exactly; speechless would be a better word.

HoroHoro's grin faded and his face took on a look that said, 'Oh shit.'

Ren suddenly started screeching in Japanese and roughly broke free of his icy restraints, lunging at HoroHoro. The Ainu squealed in fright and tried to dodge, but Ren grabbed his arm and punched him in the face. HoroHoro fell to the ground, and Ren started kicking him, accentuating each word with a _thud_.

Yoh and the others ran up and struggled to hold Ren back while Faust and Lyserg attended to HoroHoro. Ash just stood there, staring. What the hell was going on?

Ren thrashed against the boys, attempting to lunge at HoroHoro again and shouting in Japanese while the others tried to calm him. But the Chinese boy seemed to not hear them.

Ash had never felt so left out and clueless. "What the _hell_ is going on?!" she shouted over Ren's screeching.

All the boys, save for HoroHoro and Faust, froze and turned to look at her as if they had just remembered that she was there. Ren blinked stupidly and opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't speak.

"Well?!" Ash asked, crossing her arms, her impatience having already worn thin.

Seeming to have lost all of his aggressiveness, Ren pulled away from the boys and stalked away back towards the direction they were heading in before. Ash, clearly not even finished being done with him, ran after him. The others quickly looked away embarrassedly and turned their attention to HoroHoro, who was pinching his nose in attempt to stanch its bleeding.

"Hey!" Ash grabbed Ren's sleeve and forcefully turned him around to face her. "What was that all about?!"

Ren's mouth was open slightly and his eyes were wide, as if he hadn't expected her to come after him. Quickly, he looked down and mumbled something inaudible.

Ash sighed. "I feel like I'm dealing with a little kid here, Ren. Speak up."

Ren looked back up at her, and some odd part of Ash's brain realized that her eyes were level with his.

The Chinese boy looked back down again for barely a second before looking at her. His face held a trace of red in it. "…He told my sister that I was… with my girlfriend."

Ash's anger dissipated. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend." She blinked. "Wait. Why would Horo say that? She's not here."

Ren shifted uncomfortably. "I don't have a girlfriend…" he said slowly, looking down again.

Ash frowned. "Then why would Horo say you did?"

"He always does shit to annoy me," Ren said, the edge returning to his voice.

"That gives you no right to beat him up."

"He knew what he was doing."

"You're not a five-year-old," Ash retorted, "so stop acting like one."

"Me?! _You're_ the child here!" Ren countered. "You're even less mature than BoroBoro!"

Ash straightened up on her toes so that she was standing over Ren. "Yeah, like you're _so _mature either!" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "No one made you attack him."

Ren straightened up as well, refusing to back down. "Why the hell are you defending him?! He was talking about _you _too!"

The boy suddenly froze, as if he had said something that he wasn't supposed to say, which he had, at least in his opinion.

Ash blinked in surprise. "He said you were spending time with me, your girlfriend?" she asked incredulously, the anger leaving her voice.

Ren lowered himself back onto his feet instead of being on his toes, suddenly losing the desire to argue. "…Not exactly, but he implied it."

Ash scratched her head. "Am I really that unpleasant for you to beat someone up over saying that I was your girlfriend?" Her voice held no malice or sadness; it was a simple, honest, curious question, asked just for the sake of being curious. But still, Ren started to panic.

"N-no!" he stammered while waving his arms, his face reddening. "I-I mean… uh…I just didn't like the fact that he was lying to my sister, that's all."

"_Sure_," Ash said, rolling her eyes, but she decided not to pursue the subject. "You're going to apologize to HoroHoro. Now."

"I am not!" Ren argued, his face still red. "He should be apologizing to me!"

"I don't see you bleeding," Ash countered calmly, folding her arms.

Ren glared at her. Why wouldn't she back down? Why was it so hard for him to win this argument?

"…I don't care what you say, I am not going to apologize to that Ainu." He crossed his arms in a huff.

"Yes, you are," Ash said, grabbing his arm and beginning to drag him.

"Let go of me!" he said, snatching his arm away from her. "And stop grabbing me. I'm not something to be dragged."

Ash sighed amusedly. "Apparently you are."

"Are not!"

"You argue too much."

"I do not."

"See? You were arguing just then." Ash had a triumphant smile on her face.

Ren struggled to keep his anger under control. "Whatever," he said, trying to sound impassive.

"Hehe," Ash giggled, "I won."

"Be quiet," he snapped, turning around. "The sooner we leave, the better."

"You're so impatient, Lenny," Ash said with another laugh.

He looked back at her out of the corner of his eye. "We just argued. How can you be laughing?"

"I don't know." She shrugged like it was nothing. "I guess it's just me."

Ren snorted and shook his head, turning back to look at the horizon towards the ever-distant Patch Village. "You're insane."

"Of course I am," she said, suddenly grabbing his arm and pulling him on him. "And I'm going to make you apologize to HoroHoro."

"I'll apologize if I want to, not because you make me," he said, pulling his arm gently out of her grip.

Ash frowned slightly. "I guess you're right. But you should be at least a little sorry."

Ren held up his hand. "I am sorry. Sorry that I got a bit of his blood on my hand. Now it's dirty."

"You're impossible."

"Thanks for the compliment."

----------

It wasn't too long before HoroHoro was good to go. He had a few bruises on his ribs and his nose was still a little bloody, but nothing was broken. The others were a little wary of Ren, who walked in the back of the group by himself.

Ash walked beside HoroHoro. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he said shortly. "I'm lucky the bastard didn't break my nose."

"He'll apologize eventually," Ash said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Pfft. He'd apologize when hell freezes over."

"What exactly did you say to his sister?" she asked. Ren had told her, but she wanted to hear it from HoroHoro.

He looked at her sideways, some of his old humor returning. "Just that he was making out with his girlfriend. Pfft, like he'd ever have a girlfriend. I bet Jun's freaking out over it. Hah!"

As HoroHoro laughed, Ash looked away. Ren had said that HoroHoro had implied that _she _was Ren's 'girlfriend' when he had talked to Jun. So, HoroHoro was saying that Ren had sugarcoated the fact that the Ainu had clearly said… kissing.

She shook herself inwardly. _Boys are just… too weird. Way, way, way too weird. _


	14. Nothing but Net

**DISCLAIMER: No. I just don't own Shaman King. If anyone says otherwise, I'll sic Ren on you... wait... that doesn't sound like a punishment. Okay, I'll sic my evil minions on you.**

**Longest chapter so far :D ....Ignore the evil smiley. I'm tired, my brain's not working as well as it should be (even though it's always insane). Oh, and I've decided that I live to see Ren blush. It's the only explanation. XD**

**Fourteen: Nothing but Net**

"We have all afternoon to do whatever we want?" HoroHoro asked excitedly.

Lyserg nodded. "It wouldn't make sense to head out for the next town now, it's too far away."

"I saw a park back there!" Ash exclaimed, pointing down the street, away from their hotel. "I say we all go there."

"I don't care where we go, as long as I can take a nap," Yoh yawned, putting his hands behind his head.

"The park doesn't sound bad," Ren admitted impassively.

It was decided. At the park, Yoh and Lyserg leaned against a tree, Yoh listening to his headphones with his eyes closed and Lyserg reading his _Sherlock Holmes _book. Ryu ogled at passing women (no surprise there) while Faust and Eliza sat by the pond in their own little world, and Chocolove attempted to do standup beside the street.

This left Ash, Daniel, Ren, and HoroHoro standing together. Each boy was a little wary; Daniel wary of Ren, Ren glaring at HoroHoro, and HoroHoro glaring back at the Chinese boy. Ash was the only one who was blissfully ignorant of the situation.

"I bet I can beat you all at basketball," she smirked, picking up an orange ball from the rack beside the outdoor court. She had decided to ignore what had happened the other day between Ren and HoroHoro, as the whole situation rather confused her.

Ren glanced at her. "Basketball?"

"What?" she asked. "Never played?"

"No," he admitted, crossing his arms. "I had no need to play silly games."

"I can play!" HoroHoro boasted, holding out his hands for Ash to pass him the ball. She obliged, and HoroHoro took a shot at the basket, making a point without having the ball touch the hoop.

HoroHoro smirked. "Nice shot, huh?"

"You're too arrogant," Ren growled. He pointed to the basketball, which was now in Ash's hands. "Give me that."

Ash bounced him the ball, and he held it in his hands, aiming for the hoop from the foul line. He took the shot, but the ball bounced off the hoop back to him. He grabbed it in surprise.

HoroHoro snorted. "Good going there, Ren."

"You any good at basketball, Danny?" Ash asked, ignoring Ren's glare at the Ainu.

"A-a little," Daniel stammered slightly. Ren begrudgingly passed him the ball after Ash gave him a look. Daniel nervously dribbled the ball, then quickly took aim and hit the ball off the backboard into the net.

Ash picked up the ball. "Seems like Lenny's no good at basketball," she teased.

Ren growled and snatched the ball from her and attempted to make another shot, but the ball bounced off the hoop again.

"You're doing it all wrong!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, seizing the ball from the air and stomping over to the foul line. "You don't aim at the hoop; you aim at the square on the backboard! The hoop is a circle for squares who don't want to look at the square!"

All three boys looked at her strangely. Hesitantly, Daniel said, "I was born and raised here in America, and even _I _don't know what you just said."

"Just don't look at the hoop. And keep your elbow under the ball. Bend your knees, and shoot." To emphasize her point, she launched the ball, bouncing it off the backboard and into the net.

"Nothing to it," she said, grabbing the basketball again as it bounced. Rather forcefully, she passed the ball to Ren.

Ren blinked at the ball in his hands in surprise, but quickly regained composure and stalked to the foul line. He bent his knees slightly and kept his elbow under the basketball as he took aim. _Just look at the square, not the hoop_, he told himself. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, and then launched the ball into the air. The ball bounced on the hoop twice before falling through the net.

Ren smirked slightly, proud of himself. It was then that he realized that he was proud of being able to play a 'silly game,' but he didn't really care.

"Took you long enough," HoroHoro commented, grabbing the ball. He casually dribbled it. "Are we gonna play a game or what?"

"Two-on-two?" Ash verified, dashing forward and easily stealing the ball.

The Ainu blinked in surprise, then suddenly found his voice. "Hey!"

Ash jogged a short distance away and stood dribbling the ball nonchalantly. "It's not my fault you don't know how to guard yourself."

HoroHoro huffed, and then a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. "Okay, then. If you say you're so good, me and Danny here will be on one team, and you can have Ren. Sounds about fair, right?"

"What are you implying?!" Ren asked, taking a threatening step forward.

HoroHoro gasped in mock shock. "I'm not implying anything, Ren! How could you think that?"

Ren stiffened and narrowed his eyes, but Ash interrupted him. "It sounds fair. I'm better than you and Danny together, and Lenny's holding me back."

This hurt the pride of all three boys. "You can't be better than us!" HoroHoro argued. "You're a girl!"

Ren opened his mouth to agree (begrudgingly) with HoroHoro, but he held his tongue. If there was anything he had learned from Anna, it was NOT to insult a girl, especially if it was about physical power. _You're alone in this one, BoroBoro._ He would not wish the inevitable wrath on his greatest enemy - scratch that. If it was Hao, he'd say 'go right ahead,' but to anyone else he would not wish this terrible fury.

The Ainu suddenly blanched. "I-I mean… uh…"

"Fine then." The boys were surprised at how calm and nonchalant Ash's voice sounded. She held up the ball in one hand. "First team to ten points wins. Got it?"

HoroHoro jerkily nodded his head. "G-got it."

----------

Ren turned the knob, cutting the stream of water and thus ending his shower. He calmly stepped out and grabbed one of the cheap, rough hotel towels and rubbed his face and hair before looking at his face in the mirror.

He couldn't help but smirk as he remembered what had happened only a few hours before. Though Ash had remained calm, it was obvious that she had purposefully knocked down HoroHoro at every possible chance during the basketball game. Not to mention the fact that he felt smug because he had won. Well, Ash had made most of the baskets, but he had made the winning point. That had to count for something, right?

The rest of the day had been spent joking (as usual) and wandering around the park. It hadn't been a bore, either; though Daniel had been quiet (again, as usual), Ren and the annoying blue-haired boy seemed to forget their earlier argument, and had gone to their usual bickering that had no real ill intent (though neither boy would ever admit that).

Ren growled, however, as he remembered HoroHoro's attempted joke. Since then, his inbox had been filled to the max with messages from Jun, with almost every. Single. Word. In. Caps. And every single one basically said the same thing: _'Oh my gosh, you have a girlfriend? OH MY GOSH WHO IS SHE?'_

"She's not my girlfriend," he muttered to the face in the mirror.

The face stared back at him, as if urging him to go on. He looked down.

"She's just a random girl we found in the desert. Nothing less, nothing more."

He glanced back up and found the face peeking at him uncertainly from under its bangs.

He sighed when he realized what he was doing. _I'm going insane…_ he thought as he walked out of the bathroom.

The pairings for roommates were a bit different than before. In the last hotel they had stayed at, Ren had roomed with Faust. Bad idea. The necromancer had officially given Ren the creeps by sleeping beside his spirit, Eliza. His wife. They hadn't… ahem, _done_ anything, but Ren did not want to spend another night like that ever again in his life, so he had bought himself his own room this time.

The downside? Well, the other boys had _ever so conveniently _left him with the room that adjoined to _hers_.

He stifled a sigh as he slipped on his sweatpants. _American hotels…_ he thought crossly. At least the door that led to her room locked from both sides in case she was one of those weird sleep-walking people.

He glanced at the clock on the bedside table: 10:17PM. He supposed it was a suitable time to go to sleep. What he wanted to do more than anything else really was to go to the hotel's weight room, but if he went he realized that he would probably never come back up to his room to get some sleep.

Suddenly, he stiffened as he heard a muffled shriek coming from Ash's room and a rapid beating on the door connecting their rooms. Immediately assuming the worst, he grabbed his Kwan Dao from where it rested on the wall beside his bed before quickly unlocking and opening the door.

Instantly, the girl was hiding behind his back, her hands clinging onto his shoulders for seemingly dear life.

"What is it?" he asked, tightening his grip on his Kwan Dao and glaring into her room.

"S…s-spider," she whimpered, not even daring to peek over his shoulder.

Even if his adrenaline could exit his bloodstream quicker, Ren doubted that he could keep the harshness out of his voice as he looked at her over his shoulder. "You screamed and pounded on my door because of a _spider_?"

Ash whimpered and nodded in reply, still quivering.

"It's not going to kill you, you know," he said, roughly pulling away from her and leaning his Kwan Dao against the wall before turning around the cross his arms at her. It was then that he realized that her pajamas consisted of a sweater that went down to her knees and nothing else. His cheeks reddened slightly but he kept his hard face.

She looked at him with her wide grey eyes. "B-but… I-I can't sleep in there if it's there too! I-I have extreme arachnophobia."

"Yeah," Ren replied cynically, "I got that."

Suddenly, Ash embraced him and buried her face in his chest, shaking uncontrollably. "P-please Ren…" she whispered. "Get rid of it, please…"

Ren stood there, stupefied. Not a single thought was running through his head, other than the fact that he was being hugged and being begged for help. By the girl who seemed to be the source of all his problems.

"F-fine," he stammered, his face red. He pushed Ash away from him with as little force as possible and sat her on his bed. "I'll go kill the damn thing, happy?"

She nodded, her eyes flooding with relief, but she still seemed nervous.

He turned without a word and entered her room, returning a moment later with the job done.

"Now will you go back to your room?" he asked. He felt extremely awkward, but his voice only portrayed slight annoyance and impatience.

"You sure it's dead?" she asked, still obviously frightened.

"I saw it to its toilet grave myself." _Toilet grave…? My gosh, Ren, that's the best you can come up with? Wait… why are you thinking about 'coming up with' stuff? ….I really am going insane. She's flipping rubbing off on me._

Ash stayed silent, wringing her hands nervously.

Ren sighed. "I'll switch rooms with you, okay?"

Suddenly, he found himself being hugged again. "Thank you, Ren."

Ren blinked, struggling to keep his cheeks from heating. "N-no problem." Awkwardly, he patted her shoulder, blushing even more furiously as he did so.

Ash withdrew from the hug and rubbed her eye tiredly, reminding Ren extremely of a child. He found himself giving her a half-smile before picking up his bag and bringing it to the other room, returning a few seconds later with hers. He dropped it beside the bed. "Anything else you need?" he asked, surprised at himself for asking such a question.

She shook her head.

"Well…goodnight," he said. He nearly hesitated in the doorway, then closed the door behind him.

----------

Ren awoke to the sound of a knock on the front door of the room. Sleepily, he looked to the clock: 7:15AM. The knock came again, and he grumbled inaudibly that he was coming.

He opened the door a few inches to see HoroHoro. The Ainu looked clearly surprised to see Ren there in his sweatpants. In fact, the blue-haired boy's eyes were wide.

"I thought this was Ash's room…?" he asked, obviously feeling awkward.

Ren blinked, remembering what had happened the night before. "Oh." He scoffed. "She found a spider in her room and bugged me about it. I figured she'd leave me alone if I agreed to switch with her."

"Oh," HoroHoro let out in understanding. Quickly getting over his surprise, he grinned cheekily. "I thought I… interrupted something."

A split second later, he was clutching at his jaw.

"What the hell do you want, Ainu?" Ren asked, his muscles tense and his hand curled into a fist, ready to hit the boy again at any moment.

HoroHoro smirked at the fact that he had managed to perturb Ren, and he straightened back up, rubbing his jaw. "I was coming to wake you guys up. Lyserg said we needed to get a head start today if we want to make it to the next town tonight, but we probably won't."

Ren nodded and made to close the door, but HoroHoro held the door open with his hand.

"Go away, baka," Ren snarled.

"Just one thing," HoroHoro said. "Is Ash your girlfriend yet?"

The Ainu was met with a door in his face. He smirked again before innocently heading back to his room.


	15. At Long Last

**DISCLAIMER: If you say I own Shaman King, I'll sic Ren's fangirls on you!!!**

**Here's a funnyish story: the other day, me and my friend were looking up horoscopes (I don't really pay attention to them) and I looked up Ren's. He's a Capricorn (holy crap I hope this is right, I'd look very stupid if he was something else o.o). So, I looked, and it said that the motto for Capricorns is "I Master." XD And Capricorns are very dictator-like, and a bunch of other stuff. It was basically Ren down to a T o.o I laughed my butt off.**

**Anyways... I had lots of fun with this chappie here. D**

**Fifteen: At Long Last**

"Answer the phone!" Jun screeched as she tapped her foot, holding her phone up to her ear. For what felt like the millionth time she heard, '_Your message had better be important or else_.' Sighing, she hung up, not even bothering to leave a message like she had done each time she had called for the past week.

When HoroHoro had told her that "Ren's too busy making out with his girlfriend," she had been stunned, and it had taken a full five minutes to process the eight words. After this, she had started screaming about how she had always thought her brother was going to end up old and alone with no one to love him.

It had taken another seven minutes for the girls (Manta and Pailong were much too confused to know what to do) to calm her down. Once they did, Jun explained that "Ren has a GIRLFRIEND!" Everyone had been stunned and confused, and Anna, annoyed, asked how the Tao knew this, who replied that it sounded like HoroHoro on the phone. At this, everyone laughed, saying that the Ainu would do anything to tick off Ren and that the statement was obviously untrue.

Jun had pouted, disappointed. She had really hoped that her brother would find someone who he could be happy with, but this was her _brother _they were talking about. They all knew he was going to grow up to be the old, grouchy type who would live alone and not even send his relatives a "Happy birthday," or "Merry Christmas" card. That or grow up to be a dictator, but no one wanted to live in a world where Ren ruled (well, perhaps his fan girls do), so they opted for the more 'humorous' one.

"Maybe they're at Patch Village already!" Pirika suggested loudly from where she sat on her bed, trying to cheer Jun up.

"I would not be surprised," Pailong agreed from where he stood rigidly near the door. "Knowing those boys, the first thing they would do when they get there would either sleep or go to the onsen rather than talk on the phone."

"You're forgetting about eating," Manta reminded the former movie star. "Yoh and HoroHoro would eat everything in the village while Ren would drink all the milk."

Jun couldn't help but laugh, her mood enlightened. "That he would, Manta."

----------

"We're finally here," Chocolove cried, dropping to his hands and knees to kiss the ground.

Ash looked from Chocolove to the others and gave a look that said, 'He's crazier that I thought he was.'

HoroHoro kicked the comedian lightly. "Get up, dude! If the other people see us talking to you we'll be labeled as freaks."

Ash noticed Ren roll his eyes and could guess his thoughts: _You're already a freak._

Chocolove scrambled back to his feet and spread his arms wide to indicate the bustling village. "But we're in Patch Village! We made it!"

"Of course we did, you dolt!" Ren snapped.

"C'mon, guys," Yoh chided. "We have two weeks till the Tournament starts again. And we don't know when the others will catch up with us. We should relax while we can."

Ash remembered who 'the others' were: Yoh's fiancée, Anna; Manta, the shorty-genius; Pirika, HoroHoro's sister; Tamao, Yoh's friend (HoroHoro had told her that Tamao was in love with Yoh, though Ash noticed that he had done it with an involuntary twitch); and Jun and Pailong, Ren's sister and her kyonshii. In truth, she couldn't wait to meet them, but each boy had frozen when she asked what Anna was like, so she was… apprehensive about meeting the Asakura bride.

The whole group was standing in the village except for Lyserg, Daniel, and Faust, who had gone to check into the inn that the boys had stayed at the last time they were there.

"What should we do first?" HoroHoro asked excitedly. "We could eat - actually, we _should_ eat first, then we should head to the inn we stayed at last time and hit the onsen! My feet are killing me-" he continued to babble as the group headed to the nearest food joint.

"This is going to be a boring two weeks with nothing to do," Ash mumbled as they entered the shop.

Ryu, who was just in front of her, whipped around. "You could always come in the onsen with us," he invited quickly, his eyes alight.

Ash couldn't tell if her face paled or grew red. She was pretty sure it was the earlier, as Ryu, though nice, disturbed the absolute shit out of her when he tried to hit on her (he had done it several times already). She knew what an onsen was (it was one of the things HoroHoro had told her about Japan), and she certainly did _not_ want to go in one. Especially with Ryu. Or anyone else for that matter.

Out of nowhere, Ren pushed Ryu away from her. The Chinese boy's face was hardened in anger and his eyes were narrowed, his muscles tense.

Ryu tripped backwards over a chair and fell on his rear. He looked surprised, then asked something in Japanese, probably, "What was that for?"

Ryu's fall had made a copious amount of noise, and every person in the shop turned to stare at the Tao.

Ren blinked, as if realizing what he had just done, then muttered, "Sorry. Thought there was a spider on you. She would have blasted all our eardrums with the scream." Quickly, he hurried to the front counter and ordered something from the cashier, whom Ash recognized as Silva.

Ash blinked. "…What…?" She turned to the others to see them staring at Ren with smirks on their faces.

She waved her hand in their faces. "Is there something I'm missing?" she asked, completely confused.

"Ren's just having a bad day," Yoh explained before the others could.

"Pfft," Chocolove laughed. "Every day's a bad day for him!"

She frowned and looked back to Ren. Suddenly, her frown disappeared and so did her thoughts as she noticed what Ren was guzzling.

"They serve _milk_ here!" she exclaimed excitedly, at the counter in an instant.

"Holy crap," HoroHoro muttered, his wide eyes mirroring the other boy's. "Between the two of them, the cows will never catch a break."

"Hey!" Chocolove exclaimed, "I wanted to use that!"

"It's not my fault you can't think up any good jokes!"

----------

Ren sighed as he relaxed alone in the onsen, closing his eyes letting his shoulders sink under the water. He had come here early in hopes of being alone, and it had worked. He smirked to himself, crediting himself on being a genius.

He was so relaxed that, were it not for his keen ears, he would not have heard the other boys slipping into the room and into the water. Instantly, his calm was forgotten as he opened his eyes in a glare.

"Hey, Ren!" Yoh said, holding up his hand in welcome.

Ren turned up his nose in return.

"Aw Ren," HoroHoro said in mock sadness, his usually spiky hair falling into his eyes. "We're just here to take a bath. And to give you advice."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ren asked harshly, masking his wariness.

Chocolove scooted over beside Ren. "Oh, you know…"

Suddenly, Ryu was on his other side. "You see, Ren, there comes a time in every man's life when he meets someone…"

"OH GOD NO!" Ren exclaimed, jumping up. But before he could even make it out of the water, each boy grabbed him and forced him to sit.

"I will slice you all into a thousand pieces!" Ren threatened, thrashing. "Before that, I'll beat your bodies into a pulp! I'll torture you--" Ren was cut off as a towel was forced into his mouth.

Lyserg and Daniel hung back from the torture. Lyserg was worrying that one (or more of them) was going to get hurt, while Daniel was nearly red in the face, not used to being in an onsen at all.

Ren tried to spit out the towel, but it was much easier said than done.

"If you relax, Ren, we won't have to hurt you." HoroHoro grinned. "Just stay calm and all will be fine. If you just let us talk to you it'll all go by much quicker."

Reluctantly, Ren stopped resisting. After an order from Yoh, Chocolove half-heartedly removed the towel from Ren's mouth.

"Let go of me," Ren snarled.

"It's a safety precaution, Ren," Yoh explained with a smile. "We can't have you killing us now, can we?"

HoroHoro snorted. "She certainly wouldn't like you if you murdered us."

Ren growled, knowing full well who the Ainu was referring to. "Just get it over with."

"That's the spirit, Ren," Faust cheered.

Ryu cleared his throat. "When a man likes a girl, he must first admit his feelings to himself."

Ren growled. "I don't like anyone, you dolts."

The boys all looked at each other, minus Daniel. "Denial," they agreed in unison.

"Shut up!" Ren started to struggle again.

Ryu continued as if he hadn't heard the Chinese warrior. "Then, he must chase after the girl as if his life depends on it, because it does."

"You IDIOTS!" Ren screeched, struggling even more fiercely. "I don't like that girl! I don't, I don't, I _don't_!"

Finally, he managed to break free of the boys' grip. He jumped out of the onsen, grabbed his clothes, wrenched open the sliding door, and fled. But wait, a Tao does not flee. Let's change that to 'escaped from torture.'

He ran down the hallway of the inn toward his room (it was empty except for him and the group, it would become full when the rest arrived in a few days). His feet pounded the floor as he rounded a corner.

"What's going on?" Ash asked, walking toward him from her room which was at the end of the hall. "I heard yell--" She broke off as she quickly covered her eyes. "Ren! W-why the hell are you running around in a towel?!"

Ren was frozen. "I-I-I…"

How the hell had he managed to wind up _here_?! Just five minutes ago he had been relaxed, and now he was nearly exposed in front of _her_!

He couldn't think up a single thing to say, or anything to do. He was paralyzed. Like a deer in the headlights.

"Ren, buddy, where'd you go?" HoroHoro called. He came around the corner, dressed in his shorts, and gawked.

"I-I'm gonna go back to my room now…" Ash stuttered, still keeping her eyes covered, as she turned on her heel and hurried back to her room.

Ren still didn't know what to do or say now that he was alone with HoroHoro. He was in aftershock.

"Uh… sorry 'bout that, dude." HoroHoro scratched his head in sympathy. "…Ren? You there, buddy?" he asked, waving his arm in front of Ren's face.

Ren jumped, snapping out of his daze. "Y-yeah," he stammered, hurriedly slipping into his room and closing the door behind him.

Ren slumped back against the door. What the hell had happened?

_You made a fool of yourself._

"I'm. So. Stupid." He banged his head back against the door with each word. "Baka. Baka. Baka."

He stopped himself. Why was he acting like this?

_Admit it,_ the voice in his mind told him.

"A Tao does not admit to a weakness," he growled to himself.

_Oh, cut the crap._ Ren was surprised at how harsh his mind sounded to himself. _This American girl is the first girl you've ever liked. You don't want to screw up._

"Why her?" he whined.

_How should I know? She's not exceptionally pretty in the least. Plain Jane, as the saying goes. Anyways, just stop the denial. It's better when you accept it._

"How the hell do you know?"

_Well, I'm you. I know all that you know. I'm just repeating what you've heard over the years. It's the only advice you have. I'd take it if I were you… very ironic choice of words there, I'll admit._

Ren rested his head on his knees. "She's made me insane."

_Girls make boys insane. It's a fact of life. Live with it, damn it._


	16. Friends

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King. If I did, I wouldn't be writting this. Plus, I'd have a lot more money...**

**Eh, this is long, but I'm not too happy with it... the first three parts (separated by the -----) seem kinda rushed, and I'm sorry for that, I just always leave what I consider to be the best for last, and I wanted to get to that as fast as possible... This chapter is more on the serious side, but the next will be... well, you'll see. *evil grin***

**Sixteen: Friends**

Deciding that eight in the morning was a suitable time to wake someone up, Yoh knocked on Ash's door. At first, he heard nothing, so he knocked a second time, earning an irritable grumble from the other side of the door sounding very much like, "You'd better have a good reason for waking me up."

Yoh opened the door and popped his head in to see Ash sleepily rubbing her eyes.

The girl blinked. "What do you want, Yoh?"

"Just a quick word," Yoh explained, fully stepping into the room. "Last night, we were all torturing Ren, so… don't think he's a weirdo because he ran away from us, 'kay?"

"Oh." Ash blinked again. "Good, 'cause he scared me." She laughed, and joked, "If the sun was out I think he woulda blinded me."

Yoh laughed and smiled, making a mental note to repeat the joke to HoroHoro. "Good. I knew it would all work out. Ryu's almost finished making breakfast; it's pancakes." With that, he slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

----------

Ren glared at Yoh suspiciously as the laid-back shaman entered the kitchen with a smile on his face.

"What did you do?" Ren asked accusingly, pointing his fork at Yoh.

Yoh shrugged as he sat in his chair. "Just fixed things. It was pretty easy, considering the scare you gave her last night."

Ren flushed with anger. "You--"

"She's coming," HoroHoro hissed, interrupting Ren.

Immediately, the Chinese shaman quieted and sat properly in his chair and began to cut up his pancakes with his fork, as if he had never been talking. Instantly, HoroHoro and Chocolove began snorting with laughter.

Realizing he had been duped, Ren jumped to his feet, knocking his chair backwards, and lunged across the table for HoroHoro's throat. The Ainu, however, saw this coming and jumped back, causing Ren to awkwardly place his hands on the table so that he wouldn't fall on the food. He growled and put his foot up on the table to gain leverage for his prepared jump, but before he could jump, Ash's voice came from behind him.

"Good to know everything's normal this morning," she chirped, absolutely no sarcasm apparent in her voice.

Though he still hadn't lost the will to turn HoroHoro's face the same color as his hair, Ren picked up his chair and sat down, crossly stuffing some of his pancake into his mouth with his fork to hide his embarrassment. To his surprise, Ash plopped herself down into the chair next to him. "What're we doing today?" she asked, snatching the bottle of syrup out of Chocolove's hands before he could drown his pancakes completely.

Ren struggled to keep himself from glancing at her. He had decided last night (after not getting much sleep) that he was just going to see what happened with him and Ash. In other words, he had no clue what to do, so he stayed quiet.

"Relax while we can," Yoh said, answering Ash's question. He shuddered. "Just thinking about Anna coming makes me want to hide."

The boys let out an "Mmm," of sympathy, each pausing as they remembered the blond itako, aka the slave-driver. They all shuddered, and in that split-second they decided not to stay on the subject of _her_.

----------

"Hey, Horo, how do you use your snowboard?" Ash poked the object in question as the group neared the lake. "I mean, like, how do you ride it with Kororo?"

"Oh, it's easy." HoroHoro pulled his snowboard out of its case, holding it out in front of him. "You just… uh…" He scratched his head. "I guess it just comes naturally…?"

_Clueless Ainu_… Ren rolled his eyes.

HoroHoro continued to Ash. "I can give you a ride if you want."

Both Ren and Daniel (who had been walking in front of Ren) gave a start at the statement, though they both calmed themselves with the fact that they were overreacting. Each mentally slapped himself, telling themselves to get a grip. Neither was aware of the other's similar thoughts.

Soon the group (minus Ryu and Chocolove, who had opted to hang out in the village) arrived at the lake. Yoh sat against a tree and listened to his headphones (no surprise there); Faust and Eliza sat on the grass together; Lyserg and Daniel both read books; while Ren ran through his forms with his Kwan Dao, watching HoroHoro and Ash out of the corner of his eye.

The Ainu was instructing Ash how to stand on the board behind him. Then, Ash wrapped her arms around his middle (Ren gave an involuntary twitch and nearly dropped his Kwan Dao when he saw this), and the two of them took off in a bluish blur.

After a few laps around the lake (the resulting wind buffeting everyone around it), HoroHoro slowed to a stop and landed the snowboard on the ground, leaning down to un-strap his feet from the board but not before pulling Kororo out of his medium. Immediately, Ash pushed him off and strapped her own feet to the board, quickly inserting Shui into the board before speeding off.

HoroHoro stared after her in confusion, and Ren couldn't help but smirk as he stopped practicing his forms for a moment to watch the spectacle. He wasn't surprised that she had hijacked HoroHoro's snowboard; in fact, if he remembered correctly, he had seen her staring at the board every now and again, as if wanting to learn how to ride it.

As he watched Ash fly over the water, he smiled. It was genuine.

Then he saw her wobble. He frowned.

Several things happened at once. Ash screamed as she fell into the water at high speed, almost skipping like a stone before sinking like one. Daniel jumped into the water, swimming out to the spot that Ash had sunk, diving under the water. Faust and the others who were sitting stood. And Ren stared at the water, frozen. Horrified.

Ren doubted that he breathed at all for what felt like hours until he saw Daniel resurface, pulling Ash's head above the water. She wasn't moving.

Seeing Ash's unconscious form snapped Ren out of his daze. Quickly, he hurried into the lake and helped Daniel pull Ash out of the chilly water, laying her down on the grass. Shui circled worriedly around her mistress in her spirit ball form.

Instantly, Faust was kneeling down beside Ren. "Get that off of her feet," the doctor instructed, indicating the snowboard that was still strapped to Ash's shoes. Hurriedly, Ren fumbled with the straps. Once her feet were free, he violently tore the snowboard away and dropped it before turning back to see Faust pumping Ash's chest.

Ren was terrified. Had she hit her head on a stone in the water, or maybe the snowboard? Was she suffocating? _Had _she suffocated? "What's wrong with her?!" he demanded.

Suddenly, Ash started to cough. She jerked up into a sitting position and coughed up water, her shoulders wracking violently as she sputtered.

"Give her space," Faust instructed, holding his arms out to prevent the boys from getting closer to her.

Ren wanted to punch Faust for keeping him away from Ash, but he knew better than to go against the words of the doctor. Instead, he watched with his muscles tensed, ready to spring to action if need be.

Eventually, Ash's coughs receded in severity, and she took deep, wheezing breaths to steady herself. Almost hesitantly, she looked up into the extremely concerned faces of her friends.

"Did you hit your head?" Faust asked, reaching his hand out and putting it on her shoulder.

She shook her head uncertainly. "…I don't think so." She blinked. "How'd I get out…?"

"Daniel pulled you out," Faust explained as Daniel looked down shyly. The German doctor opened his mouth to continue but stopped when he saw Ash hugging Daniel tightly, the boy's face instantly turning pink.

Ren's tongari twitched and he bristled, but then he stopped himself. No, he couldn't be feeling jealous. Jealousy meant that you wanted to be in a person's place… well, okay, so maybe he _was_ jealous. But he could not let himself show it. So, he forcibly relaxed himself as Faust gently but firmly pulled Ash away from Daniel.

"We have to get you back to the inn in case you're seriously hurt," Faust said. "Besides, you're soaking wet and you could catch a cold."

Ash frowned but reluctantly agreed with Faust, and the group gathered themselves to head back to the inn.

----------

"Ahh…ahh…AHCHOO!"

Ash sniffed and huddled her blanket tighter around her. As Faust had said, she had caught a cold, and he had confined her to her room for the night to rest. But Ash wasn't the type of person who could sleep on command, so she sat on her bed and doodled in her notebook, as well as wrote random lines that went through her head. She didn't do it often, but she would draw intricate patterns or would sketch something that she had seen. At the moment, she was busy sketching a replica of HoroHoro's snowboard, her mouth taut in concentration.

There was a knock on her door, and she hurriedly closed her notebook before calling that the door was unlocked.

Ren poked his head in, looking a little flustered. "Faust wanted me to give you some tea," he explained in a rush, hurrying in and placing the cup on the table beside Ash's bed before turning around and making for the door.

"Don't leave!" Ash nearly whined. "Faust says no one can visit me because I need to sleep, and I'm bored!"

Ren paused without looking back. "…I guess I can stay. For a little while," he added hastily.

Ash smiled brightly. "Thanks Lenny!"

Hesitantly, Ren sat on the edge of the bed. "You feeling all right?" he asked, hoping to the Great Spirits that he didn't sound too awkward.

"I'm _fine_," Ash insisted. "I don't know why people keep asking me that."

"You could have _drowned_," Ren pointed out.

"But I didn't."

Ren sighed and leaned back on his hands, his left hand brushing against something stiff.

"What's this?" he asked with a smirk as he picked up her notebook, his mood changing nearly instantly.

"T-that's mine!" Ash stammered, reaching out for the notebook.

_So this is how to make her flustered, _Ren thought with an evil grin. He had to milk this for all it was worth. Usually, Ren was not one to openly have fun, but he wasn't afraid to do that with her; though, of course, he was going to hide it behind a mocking tone.

He quickly stood and studied the cover. "'Do not touch'… 'Property of Ash,'" he read. He smirked at her. "I never knew you were the type to keep a diary, Ash. How girly."

Ash flushed. "It's not a diary!" Hurriedly, she hopped out of her bed and grabbed for her notebook, but Ren held it out of her reach. "Give it back!" she demanded.

"Why should I?" he asked, keeping his arm up. "Is there something in it that I shouldn't see?"

He smirked when Ash faltered. "N-not really," she stuttered. A second later, her angry confidence was back. "But it's still mine!"

She jumped and tried to grab the notebook, but Ren whipped around and opened it. He blinked in surprise. On the page were numerous sketches of various things, most of them being weapons like a sword. There was a whip, a fork (he wondered why _that _would be there), and even his Kwan Dao. Each was intricately detailed and shaded; there was even a tassel on the Kwan Dao.

"…These are good," he commented in astonishment, his voice barely above a whisper. He wasn't lying; for being simple pencil sketches, they looked almost real.

Ash stopped in her attempt to retrieve her notebook. "Really?"

"Yeah. Well," he added with a grin, "they could be better." This earned him a light whack on the side of his head, but he ignored it as one drawing caught his attention. He squinted at it, recognizing the characteristic point. "…Is this my head from the back?"

Ash scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "Well…yeah. That was just after I met you guys. I think I was wondering how you got your hair in that spike," she added with a slightly nervous giggle.

"Tongari," Ren corrected automatically. He pointed to his hair. "And this has a mind of its own, I guess."

Ash laughed, and he smiled. He liked her laugh, and he found himself glad that he had made her do it. But he also found himself pleased that she had taken the time to draw him--

Suddenly, his train of thought ended as he found himself being hugged.

"You're a good friend, Lenny," Ash said, her chin on his shoulder so that she could not see his face.

_Friend._

The word didn't echo in Ren's mind. Instead, it fell with a thud, like an anvil falling on your toe.

If this had been anyone else, in any other situation, he would have pushed them away stating that, "A Tao does not _hug_, you imbecile," and would have proceeded to torture them in any way possible. Instead, he bit back the bile that had risen in his throat at _that word_ and hugged her back, albeit lightly and hesitantly.

Ash pulled away from him. "You're a really bad hugger, Ren," she told him, her voice in between a teasing and blunt tone, as if she couldn't decide which one to go with. "You know that?"

His face was a perfect mask of his regular impatience as he replied, "I don't give out hugs every day."

Ash rolled her eyes. "Of course you don't. Oh," she added, snatching her notebook out of his hands. "I'll take this back now, thank you very--" She broke off with a shrill sneeze.

"I should go," Ren said, putting a hand on the doorknob. His mood now was not only soured because of _that word_, but also because he couldn't help remembering why Ash was sneezing. How helpless he had felt, not knowing if she was going to be okay or not…

He looked at her storm-grey eyes. "You need your sleep."

Ash sniffed. "Aw. Okay Lenny. Night!"

"Night," Ren repeated as he slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

He stood there for a moment, one hand on the doorknob, and let out a soft sight. He couldn't believe that he had been hurt so badly by one word. He was a Tao (as he mentioned many, many times); Taos were not supposed to be affected by mere words such as 'friend,' but he supposed that he was the exception.

_She's not the type of girl who would say anything other than that,_ he told himself. _And I'm no better; I'm worse. I never say how I feel at all._ He could say three words to her - 'I,' 'like,' and 'you' - but, and he had to admit this to himself, he was too chicken. And he hated himself for it.

He didn't want to screw up, either. He didn't want to make it forevermore awkward between the two of them, not that it had been one-sidedly awkward before, but that had been livable, hadn't it? But for her not to smile at him, to laugh, it seemed incredibly dull. Great Spirits, what if, if he confessed, she _hated_ him?

"Uh, Ren?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to see Daniel. Instantly, a wave of jealousy and anger at knowing what - or should he say, _who_ - Daniel obviously liked swept over him.

"What is it?" he snapped, trying to keep his emotions under control lest he completely lose to them. He highly doubted that beating up this brown-haired boy (or worse) would have a positive effect on his… _friend_ship with Ash.

Daniel visibly flinched, but he shook it off. "I saw…something. At the lake," he added hastily.

"What?" Ren's patience had already thinned significantly.

"Ash didn't fall in on accident," Daniel said in a low voice. "At least, I don't think so. I saw the water… pull her in."

* * *

throughout this whole story, because, well, he's never "liked" anyone before. So that's my excuse. ;)OOC, I'm sorry. But he's basically OOC seems kinda RenIf


	17. Love and War

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own Shaman King. Never have, never will.**

**I almost feel as if I shouldn't have written this chapter. XD I find it somewhat amusing in the first half, and I hope you do too. It's never exactly mentioned in the chapter, it's only hinted at (like, MAJORLY hinted). Don't know what I mean by "it"? Well, hopefully you will know, but if you don't, I can explain more in a PM. XD**

**And so, I really hope you like this chapter. If not, well... This particular topic that this chapter sort of revolves around will never be approached again. I'm actually probably making this sound worse than it actually is. O.O If you're still reading this author note, I'm sorry if I'm worrying you. XD**

**Seventeen: Love and War**

Ren took a gulp of milk. He was alone in the kitchen, after having woken up early after a particularly disturbing dream about a tidal wave. He couldn't blame himself (though, no one would ever hear of him having a nightmare. Not. One. Person.). After hearing what Daniel told him, he'd been worried. Obviously, if the water had 'pulled Ash in,' it was the work of a shaman. And who had they met who could control water and might want to hurt Ash?

That's right, dear readers. The shaman who wielded the spirit of the so-called Poseidon: Tony.

Ren placed his now empty bottle of milk beside the three others he had already downed. He had decided to stick to Ash like glue (well, not literally, but you get his point) in case anything else happened to her.

Think of the girl, and she shall appear.

Ren looked at Ash expectantly as she entered the kitchen, but the girl didn't greet him in any way. He frowned slightly. It wasn't like her to not say anything. She was almost… cold.

She opened the refrigerator door and scanned it with her eyes. Then she glanced back at the table at which Ren sat. "You drank all the milk."

Her voice didn't hold its usual lighthearted tone. Instead, it held a dark, menacing quality; though it was also a deadpan. It was a little difficult to describe, but it certainly wasn't cheerful.

Ren's brow furrowed in confusion. "Yeah…I didn't know that you wanted some."

"Idiot," she muttered crossly before pulling out a bottle of orange juice and slamming the refrigerator door closed before stalking out of the kitchen.

Ren was left dumbfounded. What had made her angry? He shook his head. He had seen her angry before. This was different. She was… irritated? He shook his head again. Yes, she was irritated, but maybe he had been too quick to say that she wasn't angry as well. Well, he knew one thing. He was as sure as hell confused.

It wasn't five minutes before Faust entered the kitchen. "Oh," he said in surprise. "Good morning, Ren. And here I thought I was the early-riser."

"…Faust?" Ren asked, his voice uncertain. He didn't know Faust very well, but he'd rather ask the doctor his question rather than the imbeciles who were still asleep.

Faust, who had opened the refrigerator, blinked at Ren. "What is it?"

Ren crossed his arms and looked away, as if the question didn't matter. He opened his mouth, but at the last second, he chickened out on asking the question and instead said, "Ash doesn't seem to be a morning person."

_Baka!!_Ren scolded himself. _Coward. Chicken. Idiot. _He ran through a list of self put-downs in his mind, furious with himself.

There was an understanding in Faust's eyes, as if he knew what Ren was going to ask. But the doctor decided to answer to the spoken statement instead of the unspoken question. "It _is_ rather early for you all," he commented. "How did she act?"

"Bitter, I suppose. She seemed rather irritated that I drank all the milk, and she called me an idiot before she left," Ren answered truthfully, looking down at the table as he spoke.

Ren could almost hear the thoughts click in Faust's head as the doctor let out a low "Mmm."

Ren looked up at him. "What is it?" he asked.

Faust shook his head. "Nothing you should concern yourself over. Just try not to stay on her bad side for a little while, okay?"

Ren blinked in confusion. "What do you mean, 'nothing to concern'?" he asked, his temper rising because of the lack of information.

"Just trust me," Faust said, grabbing a clear plastic medicinal bag from inside the refrigerator and left the kitchen. He hesitated in the doorway and looked back at Ren.

"About what you wanted to ask me," Faust said, and Ren fidgeted a little. Faust gave him a reassuring smile. "Just think about how to say it for a few days. Wait till once she's back to normal to tell her."

Ren's mouth tightened and his face heated as he stared at the table as if trying to make it spontaneously combust. Faust gave a closed-eye smile in amusement before leaving the kitchen.

----------

As it turned out, Ash wasn't just a non-morning person, she was a non-day person as well.

"Hey Ash," HoroHoro said to her as he, Ash, Ren, Yoh, Lyserg, Chocolove, and Daniel watched TV in the living room. "Wanna go out and see if we can find a basketball court? I bet I can beat you this time!"

"No," she replied curtly, staring angrily at the cheap TV screen as she flipped through the channels with the remote held in a death grip.

HoroHoro blinked, taken aback. "Uh, well, what if we all go out to eat--"

"I don't want to go anywhere," she deadpanned, flipping through the channels so rapidly that the boys wondered how she could identify what show was on.

Suddenly, she let out an almost earsplitting sneeze that looked incredibly painful, and she sniffed angrily. "Fucking cold!"

The boys stared at her. She swore, but they never heard _that _come out of her mouth.

Ash noticed their stares. "What?!" she asked furiously.

In answer, everyone looked away and pretended not to have been looking at her in the first place.

Chocolove laughed nervously. In an attempt to lighten the mood, he asked, "Ever hear the one about the penguins?"

Ren's eyes widened, as did Yoh's, HoroHoro's, Lyserg's, and Daniel's. Frantically, they each made various motions with their hands in attempt to warn the comedian. Sure, even though Ren couldn't stand Chocolove, he didn't (usually) want to see him dead, either.

"NO, I haven't!" Ash stood suddenly. "And I don't want to hear it!" She threw the remote at Chocolove, who just barely dodged the missile, and stalked out of the room in a huff.

The boys stared after her in a stunned silence.

HoroHoro scratched his head. "What's up with her?"

Lyserg hesitated. "You guys really have no clue?"

Ren crossed his arms and closed his eyes in an attempt at nonchalance. "I asked Faust about it earlier," he admitted. "He said it was nothing to be concerned over. And I'm not concerned that she tried to take out the idiot over there," he added, opening his eyes slightly to glare at Chocolove.

Lyserg still hesitated. "Why do you think Ryu took one look at Ash and left?"

Chocolove tapped his chin, and Ren pointed at him threateningly. "Don't you dare think about making a joke, you lousy excuse for a shaman."

Chocolove's temper flared. "Hey!"

Lyserg sighed. "If you all don't know, then I won't tell you. Find it out yourselves." The last part he almost pleaded.

"Why can't you tell us?" HoroHoro asked.

Lyserg looked pained. "It's… a difficult subject."

Ren's mind clicked. "Oh…!" he said, blinking in realization and slight embarrassment. Ash's irritability, Lyserg's reluctance… it all made sense now. He didn't know why he hadn't pieced it together before. Ash was going through… let's say, a _phase_ in her womanly life. A really short-tempered phase.

HoroHoro gave Ren a confused look. "What? Now you get it?!"

Ren shifted slightly. "Lyserg's right. If you don't know, go find out in a book or something." _I'm certainly not going to tell you, you ignorant Ainu._

"Book?" HoroHoro was even more confused.

Ren felt extremely awkward, but he covered it with annoyance. "You're so naïve, Ainu." With that, he stalked out of the room, leaving the Lyserg to explain things.

----------

Later that afternoon, Ren returned to the inn, carrying a case of milk. Faust had told him to stay off of Ash's bad side, so he was doing just that; using bribery to get on her good side. Well, you could also say that he was attempting to save his ass, but it was the same thing.

Ren stacked the bottles on the shelf in the refrigerator, leaving one for himself. He leaned against the table and attempted to pry open the cap, but to no avail.

Now, Ren was pretty proud of his physique, which was why he could not lose to a bottle cap. So, he grabbed the bottle in one hand, grasped the cap in the other, and pulled in each direction.

The good news: he got the cap off. The bad? Well, he couldn't stop his arm in time to stop the flow of the milk from spilling out. Straight into Ash's face.

He stared at her in shock. He hadn't realized that she had come in the kitchen, much less come up near him. But here she was, milk dripping off her face, her eyes closed as if she was struggling to control her temper. Which she was.

Ren was afraid to speak or move. Any wrong move could mean certain disaster with what Ash was going through right now, and he didn't just mean having milk on her face. He had a high suspicion that any move he made would be the wrong one, no matter what.

"…Why are you doing nothing?" she asked quietly and deadly, her eyes opening to slits.

"I-I'm sorry," he stammered, placing the bottle on the table and hurrying to the counter to grab a paper towel. Before he could get there, however, Ash pushed him roughly out of the way.

"I'll get it," she snarled. "You'll just mess up somehow anyway."

Though Ren knew that he shouldn't blame her, he couldn't help that his temper rose. "I was just trying to help you!" At once, he wished he could take the fierce words back.

"'Help' is when you do something nice for someone," Ash shot back, wiping her face angrily with the paper towel. "_Not_ when you splash milk in their eyes!"

"It was an _accident_!" he retorted. "Why would I purposefully waste milk!?" He had to admit, his retort sounded conceited, but he was becoming too livid to care.

_SLAM!_The next thing Ren knew, he had been pushed into the wall, his head jarring against it painfully. He brought his hands up to his head, wincing.

"Oh…!" Ash covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes widening as she realized what she had done. Hastily, she turned on her heel and ran out of the room.

Ren stared after her, his anger immediately fading. He didn't know what to do. He felt lost. His head hurt. But, he found, these were outweighed by worry. Quickly, he hurried after her.

When he got into the hall, he realized that their…misunderstanding had not been unheard. HoroHoro, Yoh, and Chocolove stood in the hall, each with confused and concerned looks on their faces, while Lyserg had his head poked out of his room, as did Ryu and Faust. Daniel also was standing in his doorway, and, for the first time, Ren saw that he was glaring.

Ren stood there for a moment, thinking. Finally, he said, "It was a mistake."

Suddenly, HoroHoro was in his face, the Ainu's mood having changed abruptly. "What was that slam?! Did you hurt--"

"No, you idiot!" Ren countered, shoving HoroHoro back an arm's length. "_She _pushed _me_ into the wall!"

It was clear to see that HoroHoro was still angry, but at least he understood and backed down.

Ren stood there awkwardly for another second before turning around and walking swiftly down the hall to Ash's door, trying ignoring the stares he could feel in the back of his head. He knocked on the door, and got a muffled response that could have been anything.

He opened it and slipped in, closing the door softly behind him. Ash was lying facedown on her bed, her pillow over her head. He sat down on the edge of the bed beside her, staring at her form for a moment before opening his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it.

"Go away. You hate me."

He blinked, appalled. "I'm worried about you," he admitted without thinking. "I couldn't hate you."

Ash stiffened. "Liar," she mumbled from under the pillow.

"I don't hate you," he repeated. He took a breath and looked away. "…I like you."

There. He said it. Finally, it was out loud. He held his breath as he waited for her answer, tense and afraid.

It was silent for a moment.

"You're too good of a friend," Ash muttered, pulling herself up and hugging him tightly around his middle.

Ren wanted to sigh in exasperation. She didn't get what he meant. She was still clueless of his feelings.

_Or maybe she knows,_ he thought bitterly,_ and this is her way of saying 'No thanks.'_

He blinked when he realized that his shirt was becoming wet. She was crying.

Immediately, he pushed aside his doubts and hugged her shoulders. "Don't cry," he said softly, slightly surprised at how gentle his voice sounded. He also realized that his voice was nearly pleading.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, hugging him even more tightly. "I'm really, really sorry…"

He couldn't stop himself from stroking her head lightly. "It's fine," he soothed. "I'm not angry at you." He wanted her to stop crying. It wasn't right for her to cry. He wanted that smile back on her face, he wanted to see the laughter in her eyes. He hated to see her in pain.

They stayed that way for a few minutes until Ash sniffed. "Thank you, Ren," she breathed, pulling away from him and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Ren gave her a small smile. _Maybe you don't like me like I like you, but…_ "I'll be here whenever you need me," he vowed.

A sudden image of Tony wielding his trident flashed in his mind. _I'll protect you._

Ash blinked at him, her eyes only a little red. "Why are you so nice to me?" she asked.

Ren's nervousness came back in an instant, but he did his best to not let it show. "Didn't I tell you…?" he questioned, his voice taking on a slightly more defensive tone. "I like you." He found that it wasn't as hard as it was the say the first time, but that didn't stop his face from heating.

He didn't know whether to feel relieved or more nervous as Ash laughed. "What, you hate everyone else?" she asked, reverting back to her old self once again, and once again not realizing what he really meant.

Ren decided that there wasn't anything to fear anymore, so he let go of his anxiety, but he crossed his arms and looked away. "…I didn't say that."

A sudden shouting pulled their attention. The sounds were muffled from the wall, but he could make out something that sounded rather like "They're here!" and other shouts of welcome.

He realized, with a small start, that his sister had arrived.


	18. Mistake

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King.**

**First things first: I'm not a Pirika expert, so with her I'm going by what she's "typed" as in other fics.**

**There's a bit of one-sided HoroxTamao in here. :P**

**There's not too much funny stuff in this chapter. It's another serious one! :O Dun dun dunnnnnn. ...Ignore my ranting.**

**Okey, on to the more important stuff... We get to know a bit more about Ash's past... and I'm not going to spoil the rest.**

**Eighteen: Mistake**

"Ren!"

Ash watched from the living room doorway as an extremely tall green-haired girl, who must be his sister, Jun, hugged Ren affectionately. Due to their obvious height difference (so _that's_ where Ren's height had gone too. His sister had it all), Jun had to bend down to wrap her arms around her brother, where she began to shout excitedly in Chinese.

Ren's face was red. "Nee-san!" he cried angrily, and then proceeded to shout something in Chinese that probably meant, "Let me go, _now_."

Everyone else was in the living room, as well, including the newcomers. There was an incredibly short blond who must be Manta; the girl in the short black dress with the hard eyes must be Anna; the blue-haired girl clinging to HoroHoro crying "Onii-chan!" had to be Pirika; shy pinky-hair was Tamao; the only one left was the deathly pale-skinned kyonshii, Lee Pailong. Ash thought he looked incredibly familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on why. Maybe he just reminded her of some actor or something.

Suddenly, Anna was peering at her, straight in her face. The itako asked something in Japanese, her voice extremely cold-sounding.

It was at that moment that everyone seemed to notice her for the first time.

Ash stood there, dumbfounded. She didn't like being the center of attention like this.

"What's going on?" It was Daniel's voice. He stepped in from the hallway and stood beside her. At least she wasn't alone now.

Anna turned to Yoh and started yelling at him angrily in Japanese. Hurriedly, Yoh stammered an explanation back to her, though she didn't look convinced.

"They can't understand you, you know," Ren said, crossing his arms, now free from his sister. "They're American; they only know English."

Anna glared at Ren. "Who are they, then?" she asked, switching to English. Her English was slightly slower than her native tongue, but her tone was still dead cold.

"We found those two in the desert," HoroHoro explained, pointing to the two Americans. "Danny's joined Lyserg and Chocolove, and Ash's on mine and Ren's team."

The newcomers blinked in surprise. Anna raised her eyebrow at Ren. "A girl on your team, eh?"

Ren's jaw tightened and he looked sideways at the ground. "It's not like she's a vital member…"

Ash frowned. "Hey," she piped up, "that was uncalled for."

Ren blinked furiously as his face heated, refusing to look up from the floor as Yoh let out a laugh. HoroHoro followed Yoh's lead, and soon almost everyone was laughing, including Ash but excluding Ren. Even Anna had a small smirk on her face.

When the laughter died down, HoroHoro asked, "Why don't we all go out to eat?" He grinned at Yoh, and together they exclaimed, "Pizza!"

"Wrong," Anna deadpanned. "You are on an all-rice diet."

"But--" Yoh began.

Anna snatched him by the ear and began dragging him to the kitchen. "If you're going to become Shaman King you're going to listen to me. You are going to eat rice, then do two-hundred-fifty pushups and crunches each before bed."

Suddenly, Pirika brightened as if she remembered something, then pulled a book out of her bag and shouted excitedly to HoroHoro in Japanese, pointing to the pictures in the book. It looked suspiciously like a workout program. Immediately, HoroHoro paled and waved his arms to try and ward off his sister, but the Ainu girl grabbed his arm and pulled him outside.

Chocolove chortled. "Looks like those two are really _henpecked_!" he exclaimed, folding his arms like he was attempting the Chicken Dance.

He narrowly avoided the couch pillow that Ren threw at him, which had been the closest thing at hand.

"Your jokes aren't funny so stop it!" Ren growled. He brought one hand up to his temple. "I'm surrounded by imbeciles…"

Jun asked something in Chinese to Ren, who stiffened and responded, "Bu dui," before promptly turning away from her. Unbeknownst to Ren, Ash saw Jun give a small smile.

_I hate language barriers_, Ash mentally pouted, but didn't say anything.

"Um…" Tamao's face was red. Ash had almost forgotten that she was there. "I don't mean to sound impatient but is there anywhere I can put my things?" she asked in one breath, her grip on her two modest-sized bags tightening nervously.

"My room has two extra beds," Ash offered.

Tamao nodded furiously and scuttled to her side.

Ren watched out of the corner of his eye as the two left, his form relaxing slightly. This whole situation was stressing him. Everyone could guess his feelings except for _her_. Even just now, his sister had asked him, "Is that the girlfriend HoroHoro told me about?" to which he responded, struggling to keep the bitterness out of his voice, "No."

----------

"Sorry. Me English not good," Pirika apologized as she set her bag on her bed.

"No problem." Ash smiled. She liked Pirika and Tamao. Sure, they wouldn't be her first pick to hang out with, but they were nice.

"How you meet everyone?" Pirika asked as she began to unpack.

"We just happened upon each other, I guess," Ash answered from where she sat on her bed. She watched as Pirika and Tamao unpacked. "We met out in the desert, then the next day we met Danny outside of a town."

"Danny's cute!" Pirika exclaimed, suddenly in front of Ash.

Boy talk. Oh great. Ash didn't really like to talk about boys with other girls; usually, they were extreme 'fan girls' and boys meant the world to them. To her, they were just there to beat at basketball.

"I guess he is," she said awkwardly.

Tamao kept an uncomfortable silence as she continued to unpack. She obviously wasn't going to join in the conversation.

"You know who's even cuter?" Pirika asked, her eyes alight. "Ren."

Ash couldn't help but blurt out laughing. "You like Ren?" Though Ren was nice to her, and she considered him to be one of her best friends, she knew he was cold to everyone else. Why would you like someone who was cold to you?

Pirika nodded furiously. "He's cute. He's mean, but he's cute." Suddenly, her eyes grew softer. "But Lyserg is _incredibly _cute, and _incredibly _British."

Ash could tell that if she continued the conversation, Pirika would go on and on about the green-haired shaman. So, she yawned. "It's late," she said. "We should get some sleep."

Reluctantly, Pirika nodded.

----------

Ren stared at the ceiling. Because of his sister's and the others' arrival, he had been forced to room with HoroHoro. At the moment, the Ainu was snoring loudly. Occasionally, he would mumble something like, "No more running, Pirika…" Once, he had even mumbled, "Hi Tamao…Is that pizza?"

Ren, being unable to sleep with this racket and knowing that waking the Ainu up would be futile, let his thoughts wander. Earlier at dinner, things had been hectic, with words being shouted every which way, but that was the norm with them. What wasn't the norm was that Ash and Daniel had sat there, not knowing what everyone was talking about because of the language barrier. He had done his best to include them without drawing attention to himself, but it had been hard.

He thought about when Ash had cried. It had hurt him to see her so miserable. She should never cry, he decided. But, he had helped her. And she had smiled. And laughed. That was all the mattered, right?

…All that mattered?

No… She couldn't be all that mattered. Of course not. His family mattered, as did his friends. Just because he liked Ash didn't mean she was all that mattered to him.

_But she matters a lot… I think. Ugh, I hate feeling like this; this indecisiveness. Why can't I just make a decision? Yes, I like her. I told myself that. I tried to tell her. Why do I still feel like this?_

He sat up and shook his head. He was becoming ridiculous. Well, he had already become ridiculous, but it was a little difficult to accept that. He sighed softly and got out of bed, walking over to the window.

A soft night breeze stirred his hair and his night robe. He winced as HoroHoro let out an extra-loud snore. _Stupid Ainu,_ he thought as he climbed onto the concrete windowsill. Wanting to get as far away from the noise as possible, he turned and stretched up, smirking as his hands met the edge of the flat roof of the inn. Eagerly, he pulled himself up onto the roof.

"…Ren?"

He blinked. How - no, _why_ - was Ash here? He had wanted to be alone, but here she was, clad in a sweater and flannel pants, hugging her knees on the roof. For some reason, he wasn't all that disappointed to find himself with company.

Ren found himself smiling. That was, until, he saw that Ash's eyes were red again. Instantly, he frowned. "What's wrong?"

Ash looked down. "It was just a bad dream," she supplied meekly.

He knelt in front of her. "You can tell me about it if you want."

She hesitated, hugging her knees tighter. "…It was about my family."

Ren recalled that she had never spoken much about them. "Did you not have a good relationship with them?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. They loved me. But I…" Ash squeezed her eyes shut. "…I'm the reason that they were married." She took a breath. "A-and I'm the reason that they're dead."

Ren blinked in confusion. "What?" was all he could say.

Ash started to tremble slightly. "I-if I hadn't been born, they wouldn't have fought. My dad wouldn't have gotten in that accident if he hadn't gotten drunk whenever they would have a really bad fight. And then M-mom w-wouldn't have tried to marry a murderer." By now, she was blubbering. "I killed them, Ren! I-I killed them!"

Ren grabbed her shoulders. "Ash." He shook her lightly to try to get her attention. When she kept sobbing, he shook her a bit harder. "Ash!"

She wouldn't stop crying. Ren was beginning to panic. He couldn't stand her like this. She was losing control of herself.

In an attempt to quiet her, he hugged her. "Stop crying," he pleaded, trying to softly rock her back and forth in an effort to calm her.

But Ash wouldn't stop sobbing into his shoulder. "I… I _hate _myself," she cried.

"Don't say that," he commanded, hugging her more tightly. "I…I won't allow you to say that."

"S-shut up," she stammered. "I can say what I want."

"Not that," he argued.

"But it's _my _fault." Ash cried harder into his shoulder, her breathing rapid.

"Stop it." He broke away from her and held her shoulders. His tone was forceful, but his eyes were both hard and concerned. "It's _not_ your fault. Your parents made their choices, not you. I don't know all the details, but I know you'd never do something like that."

Hot tears were streaming down her face. She wasn't flat-out bawling anymore, but a few sobs were still caught in her throat. Ren felt his heart rip when he saw this, and he cradled her in his arms again.

They stayed that way for a long time. Five minutes? Ten? Hell, an hour? Ren didn't know, but he didn't care. While he was holding her, he came to a decision: Ash mattered a lot to him. A whole lot.

A thought occurred to him. Was this what was called 'love'? When you cared so much for a person that you'd protect them no matter what? When you would do nearly anything for them? When it hurt you that they were hurt?

…Maybe it was. No, not maybe. Yes. It had to be. Ren didn't know how it had happened, but he had fallen for this lighthearted, nearly carefree American girl. He wasn't sure how or why, but he had.

He opened his mouth to tell her, but he hesitated. How could he tell her right now? If he told her, he could make her even more upset if she rejected him, or she could feel like he was taking advantage of her. But she also might love him back…

Finally, he asked her softly, "Are you okay?"

"I don't want to go back to sleep," she whispered hoarsely, pulling her head down so that it rested on his chest.

"We don't have to," he responded.

In the silence that followed, neither of them was aware of the spirits that were watching them.

----------

Though Patch Village was underground, the mysterious magic of the village simulated the slight lightening of the sky as dawn approached.

Ren lightly shook Ash awake. He had not slept at all, but sometime during the night she had fallen into a quiet slumber.

Drowsily, Ash lifted her head off of his chest and blinked. For a moment, she looked at him in confusion, and then her grey eyes focused in realization. "R-Ren!" she stammered.

He smirked at her embarrassment. "Morning. I thought you'd like to get back inside before everyone woke up. Unless you want to sleep more," he added with a teasing tone. It was a second later that he realized that he was flirting with her.

Was it just him, or did Ash's face turn a little pink? Before he could know for sure, she pulled away from him. Without her, he felt a little cold.

She stood, and after slight moment, he did too, fighting the urge to wince at the stiffness in his legs. They stood for an awkward minute before Ash broke the silence. He had never seen her look so embarrassed.

"…Thanks Ren."

He smiled. "No pr--"

He broke off and his eyes widened as he felt a pressure on his lips. His heart started beating a mile a minute as he realized that Ash was _really_ close to his face. Not just close but…she was kissing him.

Ren nearly panicked when he realized that he was doing nothing. Hurriedly, he closed his eyes and returned the kiss, lightly caressing his lips against hers.

He almost couldn't believe it. He had never really thought about kissing her (or anyone else for that matter), but…he liked it. What surprised him even more was that _Ash_ was the one who had kissed him.

But, even quicker than it had begun, it ended. Still a little dazed, he blinked in confusion as Ash whipped around so that her back was to him, her body tense and her hands at her sides.

"I'm sorry," she apologized in a rush. "I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to do that."

Ren opened his mouth, but no words came out. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but she was already hurrying to the rooftop door that led to the stairs down into the inn. She didn't stop or look back to see the uncertainty and hurt in Ren's eyes.


	19. Fib

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King. You say I do and I'll sic....something on you. XD**

**Sorry for the lateness D8 One, I was busy updating one of my other stories, and two, I had writer's block for this. -.- I hate writer's block. Hate hate hate hate hate.**

**Be warned. This chapter is short. And suckish. In my wonderful opinion . I'd make it better but I don't know how I can. I promise I'll try harder on the next chapter, but getting over writer's block is a hard thing to do!!**

**Nineteen: Fib**

"Maybe he's sleeping with his eyes open," Yoh suggested.

"I don't know." Chocolove had a thoughtful look on his face. "A few minutes ago he looked almost depressed."

"Ren!" HoroHoro called for the third time, waving his arm in front of the Chinese boy's tranquil face. No response.

HoroHoro frowned and leaned back to rest on his hands. They were all supposed to be training, but Anna and Pirika had gone out to get lunch, so they were taking a well-deserved break.

"He keeps looking like this," Chocolove explained, waving his arm to Ren's nearly dreamy-looking face. "Or he looks like he's going to frown until he dies, and he does that for a longer time-- look, he did it again!"

It was true. Ren's face had turned extremely pensive; a slight frown decorated by furrowed eyebrows adorned his face, as if he was thinking about something serious. Which, indeed, he was.

He hadn't seen Ash since that morning, and he was extremely worried. Why did she run away from him? Was she hurt? Afraid? If she hadn't meant to kiss him, then why did she?

Though Ren hated to admit it, his thoughts also shifted to the memory of her lips on his. It had felt… well, wonderful. He would be in a daze about it for a minute or two, but then he would snap out of it, scolding himself for having those thoughts instead of worrying about Ash.

"Hey, Bason," Yoh asked, "what's up with Ren?"

The spirit nearly jumped in surprise. He looked away, effectively feigning ignorance. "I do not know."

Suddenly, HoroHoro got a devilish grin on his face. "I know what he's thinking about…" he trailed off mischievously, letting the words hang in the air as bait.

But Ren didn't take it.

HoroHoro frowned in thought. He smirked again, and got up on the balls of his feet in front of Ren.

"Hey Ren, wake up," he said, snapping his fingers in Ren's face. Still, no reaction.

"Yoo-hoo, Ren!" he called, straight in the young warrior's face. The Ainu's face was dead serious. "Chocolove's pregnant; you're the father."

"That's _disgusting,_ man!" Chocolove cried, his face twisting in revulsion, his arms flailing.

Ren's eyes focused momentarily as he eyed the Ainu. "If you want to become a good comedian, don't hang out around him."

With that, he stood and walked away from them. He wasn't exactly angry with them; more like…exhausted. In fact, he was _very _exhausted; one of the greatest things calling out to him was the need to sleep. But he decided that, instead of walking straight back to the inn, he'd wander the town to try and find Ash. He needed to talk to her, to straighten this whole situation out.

Luck seemed to be on his side; because no sooner did he come into the main part of the village then did she appear, walking next to Tamao and Manta, each one carrying an armload of bags and boxes as they headed back toward the inn.

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to talk with her privately, he almost kept walking. But then, he noticed Tamao's knees begin to buckle under the weight of her burden, and he hurried over. "Need help?"

Tamao nodded, her face pained as she struggled to keep from dropping her load. Quickly, Ren grabbed some of the boxes she was carrying, and she sighed in relief. "Thank you Ren-san."

"What's all this for?" he asked as they began walking again, casting the swiftest of glances at Ash. Her eyes were focused ahead of her, her face taut in concentration, trying to keep her load balanced so the packages on top wouldn't fall. She wasn't looking at him, but it didn't seem as if she were purposefully looking away, either.

"You didn't hear?" Manta asked in perfect English - leave it to him to know about languages. "There's not going to be any time for the holidays, so lots of people are celebrating them now."

"So these are all presents?" Ren asked in surprise.

"Yup," Manta answered. "Anna and Pirika bought most of them, though."

Ren cast another glance at Ash, who walked on the other side of Manta and Tamao. Did she get him a present (not that Ren was excited about simple trinkets, mind you), or did she just dislike him so much that she didn't? Or worse--

He stopped himself. He couldn't jump to conclusions. He _shouldn't _jump to conclusions. Just then, he was being selfish, and he couldn't be that way with her. He had to help her, he knew. There was something bothering her and he needed to help her.

It was about five minutes before they got back to the inn and deposited all the bags and boxes in the rooms of their respected 'givers.' When they were done, Manta and Tamao headed outside to watch the other train (what _else_ was there to do?). Ash made to go after them, but Ren took the chance and grabbed her arm.

"You okay?" he asked concernedly.

She gave him a strange look. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Her action and answer threw Ren off. "W-well," he stammered, "what about your nightmare?"

He smacked himself mentally. _Way to get to the point, Ren! _

Ash blinked at him. "What are you talking about? Are you okay?"

Ren was taken aback. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. What was going on? Was she deliberately avoiding the subject?

"Ren?" she continued, her features etched with worry. "Are you feeling all right? Maybe you had a bad dream or something."

"B-but," he stuttered, breaking off. He was completely confused. Why was she acting like nothing had happened? Because something _certainly _did.

But she _had _said she didn't mean it… Maybe, if she really was avoiding the subject, it meant that she never wanted to talk to him about it. But he couldn't just _ignore _what had happened.

"You look kinda pale," Ash persisted. "Maybe Faust should take a look at you."

"I'm fine," he said quickly, snapping out of his reverie. He tightened his grip on her arm slightly. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Why are _you _acting like this?" she asked, concern and confusion apparent in her voice and eyes.

"B-because of--" he hesitated before continuing in a lower voice. "Because of what happened this morning."

"Ren," she said, "I haven't seen you since last night. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Before he could respond, she pulled away from him. "I'm going to go find Faust. You should go sit down."

"But," he began, but Ash had already turned and headed out the door.

Ren stared after her. A jumble of thoughts was going through his head, but he couldn't quite sort them out. But one thing he knew for certain was that something was going on with her.

Soon, Faust came in, Ash following him closely. He made to grasp Ren's shoulder, but Ren pulled away.

"I'm fine!" Ren repeated, frustrated.

Faust frowned slightly and turned to Ash. "I'll take care of this. You go on outside."

She hesitated, unsure, but turned and left nevertheless.

Faust turned back to Ren. "What's wrong?" he asked, shifting to Japanese.

Ren glared at the floor, unresponsive. He didn't want to talk about _it _with anyone else but Ash. He couldn't.

Faust crossed his arms - not in impatience, but in the acceptance that Ren was more than reluctant. "Ashley said that you were acting odd," he explained.

Ren wanted to point out that _she _was the one acting odd, but he held his tongue. He shouldn't be having a conversation with Faust; he should be straightening out this whole…whatever it was with Ash.

Obviously giving up, Faust turned away. "If you need to talk about it…" He trailed off.

"We were…talking last night," Ren blurted, putting a hand up to his temples and looking away. "…And now she's acting like nothing happened."

Faust looked back to him, frowning in thought. "Did anything bad happen?"

Ren's face heated. "W-well…" He wouldn't say that _it _was bad…but she might, by the way she had acted.

Faust's frown deepened. "You know Ren; it is possible that she could be telling the truth."

Ren looked up quickly. "What do you mean? I'm not lying!"

"I'm not saying you are," Faust defended, backing up a little at Ren's sudden outburst. "But it's normal for boys your age to--"

Ren's eyes widened as he realized what Faust was getting at. He flailed his arms angrily. "It wasn't a dream! I remember because I couldn't sleep because of that idiot Ainu's snoring!"

"Who's talking about me?" HoroHoro asked, coming inside. He was panting and sweating, as if he had just run away from Pirika. Which was rather likely.

Ren growled and stalked away to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. He stood there for a moment, huffing crossly, his entire body tensed. He had _not _lied, and he had certainly _not_ dreamt the entire thing.

Just for further clarification, he asked, "Bason?"

Instantly, the Chinese general was at his side. "Yes Bocchama?"

"I did not sleep last night, correct?" he inquired, taking a side-approach.

"That is correct, Bocchama."

"Thank you, Bason," Ren said with finality.

This just further proved that he was right to be worried about Ash. She was lying to him, and he needed to figure out why.


	20. Merry Early Christmas

**DISCLAIMER: Shaman King is not mine. I wish, though. Oh how I wish... .**

_A/N first off, yes, I'm done with bold author notes. For now, at least. Anyways, sorry for the delay. I hate procrastination/writer's block._

_Also, please excuse my sad attempt at humor in the first part. . It's horrible, but I just don't have the patience to change it at this point._

_Be prepared for drama~~~_

* * *

**Twenty: Merry Early Christmas**

It took a week to finally find her alone again.

Ren drank a glass of milk as he stood beside the kitchen table, trying not to look like he'd been waiting there for the past ten minutes. He was just _sure _that HoroHoro was up to something, the way that the Ainu had been sneaking around, and he didn't want to find out in case it meant turning around a corner to find something incredibly horrifying.

Today was the day that they were celebrating an 'early Christmas,' since there might not be any time to celebrate later. Not that Ren really cared - he wasn't one for holidays anyway. He didn't even buy any presents (not that there was much to buy except souvenirs in Patch Village).

"Ren!" HoroHoro suddenly called from the living room. "Hurry up!"

"Don't tell me what to do," Ren snapped, although he put his glass down and walked into the hallway. He was about to turn into the living room to reluctantly watch the gift-giving tradition (Jun had pleaded for him to be there; he couldn't say no), when he saw that Ryu was standing in the doorway to the living room, looking rather excited.

Ren stopped short, puzzled. What was--?

He frowned when he noticed that HoroHoro was trying to push Ryu into the living room, but failing miserably. Above Ryu, Kororo, who was looking slightly distressed at the commotion below her, held a small green plant. Mistletoe.

Understanding clicked in his mind, and he was about to growl at them when Jun walked up behind him. "What's going on?" she asked.

HoroHoro and Ryu froze; HoroHoro blinked when he realized that Ren was there, but Ryu only had eyes for Jun.

Immediately, Ren jumped in front of his sister. "Get that thing down!" he barked at HoroHoro, who suddenly had to push _very _hard to keep Ryu from doing something rather rash.

Jun shuddered and grimaced, but quickly pulled out a talisman and threw it. It attached to Ryu's head, and Ren realized that the Chinese characters on it spelled out 'Calm.' Instantly, Ryu relaxed, and HoroHoro, with the sudden lack of resistance, accidentally pushed him over.

HoroHoro stood there for a moment, stupefied. However, his still posture immediately broke when he saw Ren's agitated expression. Smiling nervously, he darted into the living room, Kororo following him hurriedly, the mistletoe still in her grasp.

Ren sighed in exasperation. Leave it to the Ainu to try to 'strategically' use his spirit guardian to get… _something _to happen to Ren. And again, leave it to the Ainu to utterly fail. Ren made a mental note to keep a tab on Kororo and HoroHoro for the rest of the day, lest they try the same trick again.

He stomped passed Ryu's sleepy form, not caring whether the imbecile happened to be under his stamping feet or not. Jun followed him, though her steps were more delicate as she carefully avoided Ryu.

Thanks to the 'guidance' of Anna, the living room had been decorated practically overnight. A pretty sorry-looking Christmas tree was in the corner, its flimsy branches weighted by just about a ton of decorations. Underneath lay presents of varying shapes and sizes, all wrapped in cheery-colored paper.

Ren knew there was a reason he hated the holidays. It was all too much of a fuss over giving stuff to other people. In reality, buying and giving gifts was a fuss as well, so the holidays were summed up in his mind as too much of a fuss over a fuss.

He almost turned around then and there to leave, but he just _knew_ what his sister would say after he had - begrudgingly - agreed to come. So instead, he stalked to the chair in the corner farthest away from the tree and prepared for the worst.

He barely noted that everyone - besides himself - had bought Ryu hair gel. Of how everyone - besides himself - had chipped in to buy Chocolove an 'extremely expensive' joke book (not that it would help, but you never knew). Lyserg and Daniel both got books - Lyserg of the mystery genre, Daniel of just random best-sellers, being as no one really knew the knight-shaman's preference. Pirika and Jun each got new clothes (with Native-American symbols); Faust got a new stethoscope; Manta a book on Native-American legends; Anna and Tamao both got headscarves (most likely, no one really knew what to get Tamao). Ash got some sort of Patch Tribe charm from Daniel (this was one of the things that Ren noted…). It wasn't surprising that Yoh and HoroHoro both got ankle and wrist weights for their training.

What was surprising, however, was the small box that was thrust in his face. It had been wrapped neatly - but hastily - in deep purple wrapping paper, complete with a gold bow.

Ren blinked and looked up to see Ash holding the present out to him.

"Merry early Christmas," she chirped. "This is from me and Jun."

For a split-second, Ren studied her face. Every ounce of her expression conveyed absolute friendliness and joyfulness, almost as if there wasn't any hesitation or doubt in her mind. _Almost._ Ren's trained eyes picked up the ever-so-slight tautness of her smile, the thin light of uncertainty in her grey eyes.

She had been acting like this for the past week. Normal, but not normal. Whenever she talked to him (which would be in situations where she seemed to be almost forced to; they hadn't been alone since… _it_), she seemed to be holding back. As if she was afraid.

In trying to pretend that nothing had happened between them, as if they were both just normal friends in a normal situation, Ash had distanced herself from him.

This had made Ren more anxious and edgy than usual, oftentimes finding himself either thinking about her or trying to catch her alone - the latter of which had been impossible to do. He _knew_ that she was putting on a façade. The entire situation was beginning to drive him mad.

All these thoughts passed through his head in a split-second. Snapping back to reality, he took the present in his hands. Immediately realizing that _all _the others were watching him, he stiffened and hardened his expression and tore off the wrapping paper impassively, as if he was annoyed at the fact that he was opening the stupid gift instead of having about a million thoughts running through his head - one of the oddest ones being that he was strangely… _happy _to be getting a gift… Though the feeling was extremely mild compared to the thoughts racing through his head, the boys smirked to each other at his actions.

The slim box was plain white and the lid came off with ease. Inside was a simple gold chain; the pendant was the symbol of yin and yang and was about the size of a quarter.

He blinked, the first thought running through his mind being of the tattoo that had been on his back. He remembered that Jun had also helped to buy this for him; perhaps she meant to say something along the lines of '_You've always got your family_' or something else extremely sappy like that.

In any case, it was bittersweet to look at the symbol of his family; he remembered the torture he had gone through after his attempt to overcome his father, of when he finally realized to be his own person…

Suddenly, Ren became aware that everyone was looking at him expectantly. "Uh, thanks," he said quickly and awkwardly.

Suddenly, Yoh and HoroHoro were peeking over Ren's shoulders. "Ooh, that's cool!" HoroHoro commented, his voice light a teasing. "All _we _got were dumb weights."

Clearly without thinking, Yoh nodded in agreement. "Th--"

"Oh, so they're dumb, huh?" Pirika asked, snatching HoroHoro's arm with one hand and his new weights with the other before pulling him unceremoniously outside.

Obviously, Anna was _not _going to let that Ainu-boy get more training time than her future Shaman King. She seized Yoh's ear and his set of weights before hurrying after Pirika, albeit pulling her trainee with much more force than Pirika had with HoroHoro.

At a loss of what to do as everyone dispersed to admire their gifts, Ren fingered the pendant, half-admiring its glossy sheen. At least Patch Village had _some _shops that didn't sell some sort of Native-American craft.

"She picked that out for you, you know," came a familiar voice, the words being in Chinese.

Ren, his face leaning towards a frown, looked up to see Jun standing over him. His sister continued: "Maybe you should go thank her. I think she went outside."

Ren scrunched up his eyebrows and was about to open his mouth when he realized the underlying message his sister had given him. He nodded to her, then quickly got up and hurried out of the house, unnoticed, clutching the yin-yang pendant in his palm.

Behind the inn was a small stretch of open ground before the land gave way to the trees that surrounded the lake. Already, dusk was starting to settle, but it took only a second for Ren's eyes to adjust to the semi-dim light and spot Ash's figure. Her hand was holding something up to her face, but Ren couldn't tell what it was.

Suddenly, Ren felt nervous. He knew he had to talk to her, but he didn't quite know what to say. He detested the irony that, after finally finding her alone, he didn't know how to begin.

Luckily (or perhaps unluckily…?), Ash noticed him before he said anything. She jumped, startled. "H-hey," she stuttered, stuffing whatever she was looking at back in her pocket.

"…Hey," Ren began uncertainly, wanting to fidget but finding himself unable to. He tried to strengthen his voice, but it was still somewhat awkward as he went on, "We need to talk."

Ash tipped her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Here was the façade again. Ren let out a sigh. "Don't give me that," he said, his voice only slightly scathing. "I'm serious."

Ash's face grew solemn, and she crossed her arms self-consciously and looked down. "I… I didn't mean to, Ren. I'm sorry. I-I was half-asleep…I wasn't even thinking straight. Can we just forget about it?"

At least she wasn't pretending like the whole thing hadn't happened - but it seemed as if she was still hiding something. Ren took a hesitant step closer to her, almost reaching out to touch her shoulder but stopping himself at the last moment. "…No. We can't."

Ash started to become more flustered. "W-why not?"

Ren hesitated, his eyes flittering to the ground before he did his best to look her in the eye. "….Because I think I'm in love with you."

When she didn't respond, he began to panic. "I-I tried to tell you earlier," he added hurriedly, "but you didn't understand."

If anything could make Ren sweat under pressure, it was this situation right here. Not only was he struggling to be open with someone, but he was struggling to win their approval as well. If there was one word to describe the tumult of emotions that seemed to be raging in the pit of his stomach, it was probably the one word he would never admit to: _fear._

"…Ash?" When she was still silent - her eyes having the look of a deer in the headlights - he hesitatingly tried to grab her shoulders.

At his touch, she suddenly shied away. "N-no… I…not you…" Her eyes shone in the dim light, as if at any moment tears (of sadness? Longing? Regret? What?) would spill. "I'm sorry," she choked out before running past him back inside.

Ren stood there, frozen. He had…She had… It took seemingly forever for the events to click in his mind. When they did, he realized that something was digging into his palm. Almost in a detached way, he opened his fist to see a small welt in his skin from gripping his new necklace so tightly.

A sudden fit of rage bubbled up inside him, and he threw the necklace with all his might. He barely heard the soft _thud_ of the pendant as it hit a tree and fell to the ground somewhere in the dark.

What was it? How did he screw up? He wasn't supposed to screw up. He wasn't supposed to feel so angry, so helpless, so…

Ash's words had been 'Not you.' Did that mean that she was in love with someone else? Instantly something burned within him, but he held it back.

He sighed out every feeling, but there was still plenty of confusion left inside him. He walked with heavy steps into the trees, casting his eyes along the ground.

The pendant seemed to glint at him in the incredibly shadowy light; the white of the yang seemed to almost glow. As he reached down to pick it up, his finger brushed against something small, sharp, and unidentifiable, causing a small drop of blood to form on his fingertip. He frowned even deeper and picked up the necklace.

Maybe he should just leave her alone. Just forget everything that had happened. Just forget completely about her. What had he been doing all this time, anyways? He was supposed to be training to become the Shaman King; the thing he had been training for all his life.

_Beep-beep._

Ren blinked and brought his Oracle Bell up to his face, surprised at the unexpected message. His eyes narrowed as he realized that it would be easier to forget than he had thought.

* * *

_A/N Note, I think it would be just plain awesome for Ren to have a necklace. It'd be better too if necklace was a bit more masculene._

_I'm in the mood for some constructive critism. But flames will be fed to Spirit of Fire. The baby-version. So cute.3_


	21. She Longs For

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN SHAMAN KING.**

_a/n I'm probably going to hate myself later for updating such a short and suckish chapter, but I went through a "everything I write is stupid" phase and that kinda offset me (though I agree with myself wholeheartedly that the title of this fic absolutely stinks but I can't think of anything better). Hopefully I can get this wrapped up soon, I got yet another great idea for a plot, and if I'm careful that one might actually be good (how many times have I said this...). I finally figured out just what is going to happen here, too. XD_

_I hope the characters are in character..._

**Twenty-One: She Longs For**

"_Daddy!" she cried, clutching to his leg. He paused, looking down at his daughter as she wrinkled his suit pants (not that he cared - they were already starting to wear); one hand was on the doorknob, the other holding his worn briefcase._

"_What is it?" he asked, looking down at his little five-year-old, surprised at her emotional cry._

_She sniffed. "I don't want you to go."_

_He smiled, setting down his briefcase before kneeling down beside her. "I'll be home tonight." He patted her curly hair. "Don't worry."_

_She sniffed again, her grey eyes shimmering. "But I'll miss you."_

"_I'll miss you too, Ashy." He ruffled her hair a little. "But sometimes, you can't truly enjoy something without knowing the pain that comes with it. So, when I get home, we'll just love each other a little more. Same as yesterday, same as tomorrow. You can't be around the people you love forever, but I promise that when I get home we'll have a lot of fun, okay?"_

_This time, her mucous-y sniff was accompanied by a pout in her last attempt. "You really have to go?"_

_He smiled. "Yes, I do." He stood, ruffling her hair again before picking up his briefcase. As he opened the door, he looked back at his daughter. "Now, be a good girl for your mother, okay? Go and find some lost spirits with her and have some fun. Shui will play with you too."_

"_Okay."_

_As her father left, she looked down to see a dark-blue button on the floor - it must have fallen off of her father's shirt. Without much thought, she picked it up and pocketed it._

_----------_

She had kissed him. She couldn't ignore the fact, even though she wanted to. She wanted to forget that it had even happened; better yet, to somehow be able to turn back time so that it had never happened.

It wasn't because Ren wasn't…satisfactory as a person, for lack of a better word. That wasn't it at all. And she hated this fact.

_-----------_

_She hid under the covers, burying her head under the pillows to muffle the noise as Shui circled protectively over her head. This wasn't the first time her parent's had argued, but she wasn't used to it. Just a few months ago, they had been a perfect little family; her mother being a stay-at-home mom and her dad being a (rather unsuccessful) accountant. Sure, they had been just barely scraping by, but they hadn't had arguments about money or something like 'alcohol' or anything, and even though Daddy couldn't see the spirits, he never once was too surprised if his little daughter's hair seemed to be caught by a sudden wind by Shui._

_She would be seven in a few months, and she still clung to the belief that parents always loved each other, no matter what. Even if they argued, they'd get through it, and then everything would be perfect again._

"…_damned witch…"_

_Even though her ears were covered, she could still hear her father's words. She remembered repeating him once - for while he was a good-tempered man, he swore like a sailor sometimes - and her mom had threatened with washing her mouth out with soap. She'd tried to eat soap before, so she never uttered any curse afterwards._

_She flinched as she heard the front door slam. It had slammed before, but she was always startled by it._

_Compared to her friends' parents, her parents were very young; just coming into their late twenties. She remembered her parents saying that she was the best surprise they'd ever had. A few months ago, they said that she was what brought them together, what made them a family._

…_So was she the reason they were fighting?_

_She shook herself mentally. They'd stop fighting. They'd make up. They'd be perfect again._

_-----------_

She wished she could just accept Ren, but she couldn't. She'd be lying if she said he wasn't of any importance to her, but she didn't think of him as anything but a friend. She didn't know why he seemed to…_like _her - and maybe he didn't know either - but she couldn't return it. She (almost?) wished she could. It'd be so much more simpler that way.

_------------_

_A few months after the funeral, her mother started to act strangely. She cut her hair - even dyed it black - and got more earrings on her ears. One day, she came home with a small drawing on her foot. It was just a simple multicolored star, but she remembered being fascinated by the fact that it wouldn't wash off._

_Her mom had started to act differently, too. She went outside more often to make that smoke-stuff from the little stick her mom told her never to touch, and while she was still kind and caring, she seemed to be having less and less time for her daughter and more and more time for some guy she knew from her new job._

_Ash was, of course, disturbed by this, but even though Daddy had gone away, she still believed that one day he'd come back and they'd be perfect again. She hadn't seen her father's spirit, but she was still to young to quite understand the… finality of the situation._

_What she didn't mind, though, was her babysitter, Karen. She kept quiet about the spirits in the house like Mom had told her too, and by doing that she got along well with everyone. Karen let her watch TV if she wanted to, or just play games all day with her. She was pretty nice._

_For the life of her, Ash couldn't exactly remember the day that the police came. If anything, that made everything seem more… frightening. But she could remember the first day she met Aunt Laura, her father's sister. Like her brother, Laura Williams was not a shaman, but unlike him, she wasn't so accepting of them, even though - through her brother - acknowledged their presence._

_------------_

She couldn't explain why she was feeling this way, why she had acted like she did, why she felt like she did. She didn't think she could ever understand it.

She wanted her parents back. She missed them horribly. It was such an awful pang sometimes that it felt like she couldn't breathe. Ash never thought that she would miss someone as much as she missed her parents, even though now it was easier to think about them - save for her nightmares.

Alone in her room, she blinked at the message on the Oracle Bell. Taking away all the formalities and unneeded words in the text, the message was summed up in one sentence: "_Due to the few team entries, the Tournament will proceed directly to one-on-one matches."_

Ash found herself relaxing slightly. She didn't want to face Ren. She hadn't realized it until Ren had just spoken to her, but she missed someone else too - and she didn't know why she did.

"C'mon, Shui."

_-----------_

As if nothing had ever happened, Ren drank from a bottle of milk as the others massed about in the kitchen, excitedly chattering, wondering just who they would face off against first in the third round.

He didn't join in - not that he would have joined in anyway. He didn't feel like talking. He still felt confused and hurt, but he hid it relatively well under his usual mask. As if nothing had ever happened.

As the others boisterously bantered over who was the best fighter among them, Tamao padded nervously into the kitchen, unnoticed until she came up next to Ren. He blinked at her, unused to being approached by her.

"Um, Ren-san," she began, unsure. "Ashley-san's things have gone… and so has she."

Though the noise level had died down slightly, it took a moment for the words to register in his mind. "She left?" he asked quietly in disbelief.

Tamao nodded, concerned and seemingly embarrassed or something like that.

Ren frowned for the slightest moment. Something inside him didn't quite understand the situation, but another part of him guessed that he shouldn't be surprised. After all, he thought bitterly, she had flat-out rejected him.

By now, the others picked up on Tamao's being there and had grown quiet, staring at the two.

"What happened?" Yoh asked.

Ren shrugged as he put down his bottle before walking out of the room. "She left."


	22. Why

**DISCLAIMER: Shaman King ain't mine! Nor will it ever be... D8 But I luffles Ren!**

_So. Long time no see, dear reader. You must be wondering, "Why does it take so long for Rose to update?" The answer: I constantly go through "omg this is such a stupid story" sydrome. Yes, it's a very emotionally-fatal writers' disease. I know some of you may love this story (right now I can't really see why XD (see it's the OMGTISASS sydrome again! ....I don't think that's a good abbreviation... I'll find something shorter)), but it's wicked hard for me to keep writing this, but I don't think that I'll leave this story unfinished. So...yeah..._

_Notes: There's first-aid in here, but I didn't reasearch (what a bad writer! *smacks self*), so it might be false. Don't use my story as a first-aid reference! (The first-aid is rather minor but still... wait... Ugh I confuse myself just ignore me (but still, always be prepared)). Ugh I'm making such a big deal. XD_

_Here's a bit of an unimportant note: I read Full Moon O Sagashite (spelling?), and while that story is short (but rather sweet) I now imagine Tony and Christina looking like Takuto and Meroko (though minus the bunny ears...). So, that was really unimportant to say.... can't remember why I wanted to say it..._

_Lastly, if there are any typos, I apologize. And, Ren might seem a bit OOC... _

**Twenty-Two: Why**

Ren had faced off against his father, against Mikihisa, against even Hao. He had proved himself over and over again in battle, was a shoo-in to win the Tournament, and he had great mental strength as well as his physical prowess. He had won so many times…

…so why couldn't he win over his own thoughts?

It sounded like a simple enough task: 'keep your mind off of that-girl-who-can't-be-named-or-you'll-keep-thinking-about-her.' Just forget and move on, and then life will become like it was before, and then he could win the Tournament. After that, he could surely forget about A--

Ren grunted and shook his head from where he sat on the window ledge. He couldn't think about her, he couldn't wonder where she was, he couldn't wonder if she was all right--

_Was _she all right? After all, she had been crying the last time he had seen her… Maybe she hadn't even wanted to leave; maybe somehow she had been kidnapped--

He cut himself off. _This _was why he couldn't think about her - he'd drive himself mad if he did!

In spite of the situation, he smirked, remembering not so long ago when he really did seem to be going insane because of her. She had seen him at some of his clumsiest times, and, while he was rather embarrassed by that, he felt rather… happy that she did. He could be himself around her and not have to worry.

Catching himself for what felt like the millionth time, Ren sighed in exasperation. This was impossible. Just… a task he could not do. He had long since given up on trying to sleep (though HoroHoro's snoring was a factor in this too).

The others had, of course, been worried (the boys more than the girls/Manta and Pailong, as they _had _traveled with Ash), but no one besides Daniel had done anything. Ren hadn't been there, but HoroHoro had told him that Daniel had gone too, but no one was really that bothered by it - he had never really stood out anyways, in Ren's opinion, though the Chinese shaman knew just what Daniel was trying to do.

Ren had wondered if he should go after her. She had run from him… but why? The way Ash had spoken; it was as if she wanted someone else to be standing in front of her instead of him. But… how could he be sure? He didn't understand her, but he wanted to.

What seemed like an almost irrelevant memory sudden sprung up in his mind: The words that Ash said she had chosen to live by, '_You can't truly enjoy something without knowing the pain that comes with it._'

He didn't know why he thought of those particular words, but they made him start to think more than he already was. Ash said they were her father's words, didn't she…?

Suddenly, Ren's grip on the yin-yang pendant tightened before he stashed it in his pocket. He grabbed his Kwan Dao from its position against the wall, and used his hand to vault himself over the low windowsill and down onto the dark street.

He had tried to quell his thoughts. But he had to know just one thing.

* * *

If there was any real undergrowth in the forest surrounding the lake, her arms would have been scratched up, and her legs would be bleeding. But Ash wouldn't have cared. Not right now.

Breathing heavily from her frantic silent search, she stumbled over a root, falling to her knees. She stayed that way for a moment, on all fours, catching her breath before turning to give a death glare at the root.

It wasn't a root.

"Tina!" she breathed, scrambling over to Christina's side. The blonde was staring at her from her sitting position against the tree, one leg stretched out while the other was bent. For perhaps the first time ever in Ash's time of knowing her, she was alone.

Christina blinked, focusing her slightly misty eyes. "Ash? Is that you?"

Ash trembled slightly. "I missed you guys." She looked around quickly. "Where's Tony…?"

Christina brought a finger up to her lips, her childlike manner showing through as bright as ever. "Tony's sleeping a little ways back. I didn't feel sleepy."

Ash's brows furrowed. "Sleeping? Out here…?" She paused. "…I thought you might. You know…because of the lake."

Christina nodded. "He wants to sleep in case we have to fight soon. But he said we have to be careful when we sleep."

"Tina…" Ash hesitated. "I never asked… Why do you… why were you on Hao's side?"

The blonde pursed her lips. "Tony doesn't like to talk about it. He only told me once."

When she didn't say anything else, Ash pressed further. "What did he say?"

Christina suddenly blushed and giggled childishly, covering her mouth. "H-he said…" She giggled again. "H-he said it was because he loved me."

Ash blinked, not quite comprehending. "What?"

Christina didn't understand Ash's tone, and giggled some more. "He said he loved me! Isn't that funny?"

"Hilarious," Ash replied absently.

It was so odd: a simple sentence was all it took for her to realize who it was she missed most of all. A simple sentence was all it took to realize that he had been taken already.

Why? Why did it have to be him? Yes, he had been her friend, but he had betrayed her for Hao - though apparently, he had a good reason… But why couldn't it have been someone else? Why did she have to feel so empty and confused now? She'd had enough of those feelings. She _hated _them.

Tony had been an older brother figure (for a while). Ash hadn't realized that she missed him so bad. She didn't realize until just _now _that she felt something for him. Was it just because Tina had told her this, or was it like that stupid (but true) phrase, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"?

…Why did it have to be the person who had tried to use her for Hao?

Ash didn't realize that Christina had stopped giggling until the unexpected and unmistakable sound of metal-on-metal jolted her from her thoughts. The two girls stiffened at the sounds of a struggle somewhere around them. Then there was a dull _thunk_, and silence.

Tony himself suddenly came from behind the tree that Christina was leaning against. He dropped an unconscious body unceremoniously to the ground.

"I found _that_," he spat, "lurking around out campsite."

Suddenly, he noticed Ash, and he stiffened. "What're you doing here?" He sounded more surprised than accusing.

Ash's eyes darted from Daniel's limp form to Tony's eyes, shining in the darkness. She had thought up a plan of what do say during her search, but her mouth was suddenly dry.

"Well?" he pressed, his voice becoming more hostile as he took a step forward. From her kneeling position, he looked much more tall and intimidating than she remembered.

"Ash says she missed us," Christina explained, still sitting. "She asked why we're on Hao's side."

Tony frowned. "You don't need to know about that."

Ash opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Tony took another step forward, and for the first time, she noticed that he held his trident in his right hand. It wasn't oversouled, but his knuckles were white as he gripped it. "You should get out of here."

"I--I don't have anywhere else to go," Ash croaked, finally finding her voice. She glanced at his eyes, then down to her lap. "I was hoping t-that…" she trailed off.

In spite of the situation, Christina brightened. "Oh, please Tony? Can she hang out with us again?" The way she said it, it sounded almost like wanting to get a puppy. But Ash couldn't blame her; her brain was stuck in that of a child's. They had explained that she had been in a car accident when Ash had first met them.

Ash didn't need to look up to know that Tony was frowning still. "We can't associate with those who aren't with Hao."

"But Hao's gone!" Ash blurted. She stole a glance at Tony. His expression was unreadable.

"He's never gone," Tony said, his voice sounding oddly defeated.

There was silence for a moment. Tony took another step forward. "Leave now or I'll force you to."

"Tony…"

"Please be quiet, Teen." Tony's voice softened considerably. "We can't have any other friends."

Ash bit her lip, looking at her lap. "I really don't have anywhere else to go…"

"What, did your friends leave you?" Tony spat, the hostility returning to his tone. "Leave us alone."

"Tony!" Christina sounded pained and confused.

"I tried to recruit her for Hao's side, but she refused," Tony explained vehemently. "I can't make her be on our side."

"But why are you on his side?" Ash suddenly stood up and looked Tony in the eye, though she quickly focused on his forehead. Looking at his eyes caused a painful lurch in her stomach. "If I could understand…"

Tony pointed his trident at her threateningly. "You don't need to know about that," he repeated. "Go. Away."

"Let's go," Shui pleaded from beside her mistress's ear. "We can't beat them if it comes to a battle."

Ash trembled, but otherwise didn't move. "Please tell me. I want to know. I-I want to understand."

"Go away!" Tony brought his trident back to forcefully stab at her, but a sudden figure dashed out of the trees and knocked him back down onto the ground.

"Don't touch her!" Ren snarled dangerously, nearly mimicking Tony's earlier move by pulling back his Kwan Dao in order to stab with more force.

But as he pushed forward, a sudden weight at the back end of his Kwan Dao causing him to stop, not because it was forceful enough to halt him, but because he was startled. He swung his head around to scowl at whatever was holding him back, but he froze.

"Don't hurt him," Ash pleaded quietly, holding a death grip on the end of the Kwan Dao while looking Ren in the eye.

Ren stood there dumbly, his golden eyes focused on her grey ones as if they seeing them for the first time. No…she couldn't…

He was only barely aware of the sound of Tony scrambling a safe distance away before standing up, of Christina scrambling to her feet and running toward the water shaman, of Tony grabbing her arm and pulling her quickly away through the trees.

Neither one moved an inch. Ash was breathing hard, but Ren seemed to almost forget how to. The only things that existed to him were her eyes, slowing dulling from pleading to unreadable.

Finally, Ash let go of the Kwan Dao and took a step back. As if he had been brought back to reality by a jolt of electricity, Ren darted forward and grabbed her arm, doing his best to ignore the slightly frightened look in her eyes at the sudden movement.

"Did you run away?" he asked.

He tried to read her face, but while her eyes widened, she said nothing.

"_Did you run away_?" he repeated with more force.

Suddenly, her eyes seemed to be on the verge of tears (_Oh God,_ he thought, _why does she have to be so prone to crying?_). Hesitantly, she ducked her head down slightly and shrugged her shoulders. If it had been any other situation, she might have looked like a shy little girl being caught red-handed, but it was a much more serious look, like she was trying to be defensive.

Ren stared at her, like if he looked away for a split second she would give a more straight answer and he wouldn't know. "Why did you come out here?"

Ash bit her lip. "I…I don't know, Ren…" A tear leaked down her face. "I don't know."

He hesitated, then grabbed her other arm, his Kwan Dao awkwardly in his hand as well. "It's okay," he tried to soothe. She shouldn't cry, not here, not ever…

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Why… why is it so hard to…Why can't I…" She struggled for a word. "I don't know why I can't like you…like you do…"

Ren wished he knew too. He wished he could do something, but he didn't think there was anything he could do. So he stood there silently, looking at her.

"I…" Ash started, casting her eyes down to her feet. "I think that I knew that you…" she trailed off. "I think that's why I…kissed you…"

Ren didn't quite know what to make of that. He struggled to find something to say, but she beat him to it.

"I wanted to see if I could love you," she explained in a rush. Her face was red as she stared at the ground. "I-I wanted to know who I was missing. But then I remembered that you're my friend, a-and I panicked…"

Ren smiled sadly. "I wasn't who you were looking for?"

Ash bit her lip again. "I don't know."

Ren was suddenly dreadfully tired of her uncertainty. He was both overcome with this and his relief that she was physically okay. Before he could give a second thought, he dropped his Kwan Dao, cupped her chin and brought her lips up to his and kissed her. He wasn't aware of anything around them except for the pressure of her lips.

Then he felt something wet.

Surprised, he jerked his head away a few inches, his arms dropping down to her shoulders. His first feeling was embarrassment at his sudden act of affection, but then he saw that Ash's face was wet. She wasn't sobbing, but the sight of her tears alarmed him.

Suddenly, she pulled him and kissed him back. He was as astonished as he had been the first time she had kissed him. At first, he stood there for a moment, but then he cupped his hands around her head and began to kiss her back.

Slowly, Ash pulled away from him and then hugged his chest. Ren wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek on her head, his thumb absently rubbing her shoulder. If anyone had told him that he would be _here_, he might have just flayed them on the spot. But he was so content now; his previous worries had gone.

"I'm glad you're safe," he whispered. "I love you." He couldn't think of why he had begun to in the first place, but right now he didn't care.

If Ash was going to answer, she was interrupted by a painful groan from somewhere in the darkness.

"Shit!" she swore, jumping away from Ren and down onto her knees. "Daniel!"

Ren was suddenly glad it was so dark; his face had just gone a deep shade of red. Even though he could realize that Daniel was just coming out of unconsciousness, he had thought they were alone - after all, it _was _as dark as hell right now.

"Danny! Are you okay?" Ash asked, her hands outstretched as if she couldn't decide how to help him.

Daniel grunted in pain as he lay facedown in the dirt. If Ren wasn't mistaken, he thought he could see a darker substance surrounded the area where Daniel's nose should be.

His face still rather warm, Ren knelt down and shook Daniel's shoulder (perhaps just a little more forceful than necessary). When Daniel didn't respond, Ren positioned the knight-shaman's arm so that, when Ren rolled him over, his head was supported by his arm.

It wasn't a very pretty sight. Even in the darkness, they could see the contrast of blood against Daniel's paling face. His nose was quite crooked, too.

Ren frowned. "I'd take him straight to Faust, but I don't know what other injuries he has."

"I'll get Faust," Ash offered, making to stand.

Ren grabbed her arm. "You're not going anywhere without me. One of our spirits will have to go."

Immediately, the three spirits seemed to pop into existence in their spirit ball forms.

"I'm not leaving," Bason and Shui said in unison, though Bason added "Bocchama." Shui glared at him from behind her mistress's back.

"I'll go," Cameron offered. With a last look at his master, he sped off.

It was suddenly quiet. Ash pursed her lips and looked down at the blood on Daniel's face. Ren noticed her expression and, after a slight hesitation, took her hand and squeezed it. Ash didn't respond; she only stared.

* * *

_Dear reader, you may be rather confused right now, but bear with me. Ash is confused too._


	23. Pangs

**No, I don't own Shaman King. I only own Ash and the very quiet Danny and Tony and Christina and whoever/whatever else I might have made up.**

_Sorry for the longish wait (are you happy now, FuzzyShadowFoxx? XD). I went through another "What the hell am I doing?" and "What the hell do I write now?" phase. I hate those. But good news, I finished my PMD3 story. (Woots for me :P) I believe this chapter is shorter than the last one (Sorry about that, I'll make the next one longer), but filled with more humor (humor and HoroHoro start with the same letter...), and another rather fluffy scene. And more drama. You can never not have more drama._

_Random note: Lately, I've been becoming attatched to HoroHoro again. I remember when the show aired on FoxBox or whatever when I was like, I don't know, a little kid xD, I had the biggest crush on him (and for good reason!). If I ever write another SK story, I think I might just write about him._

**Twenty-Three: Pangs**

Ash awoke to a soft beeping the next morning. She blinked wearily, her muscles still exhausted. Vaguely, she realized that she had slept in a ball under the covers; light was filtering softly through the blankets.

The beeping continued. Annoyed at the noise waking her up from what felt like one second of sleep, she pushed the button on her Oracle Bell. Text was written on it, and it took a second for her eyes to adjust to read it.

It gave the date for her match, which was set to be in two days, but it didn't reveal the name of her opponent - she supposed it was supposed to be a surprise. There was more, and if she was more awake, she might have actually cared, but right now all she wanted to do was sleep.

Slipping back into a doze, her consciousness mingled with her subconscious, and odd dreams formed. One might have been about penguins named Bason, or about Basons named Penguin. Then there was suddenly a weapon pointing at her neck that was quickly replaced by a person's face.

Ash's dream startled her awake, and she gasped. She tried to grasp for the remnants of the dream, but they had already slipped away. Something about penguins…?

Oh, right. Basons named Penguin. Well, that was startling, she supposed, and rather funny in its own way. She imagined a black-and-white waddling Bason and giggled.

Imagining a penguin-like Bason steered her thoughts to his master. Her face suddenly heated, and even though she suddenly realized how hot and sweaty she was under the blankets, she didn't want to get up. Her stomach was twisting in a million different directions, most pleasant, while others were nauseating.

It was hard for her to comprehend what had happened, what she had done. The jolt in her stomach when she had looked in Tony's eyes, the very, very pleasing feeling she had felt when Ren kissed her… That thought made her face heat up even more.

Suddenly, the nauseas pang in her stomach intensified.

* * *

When the others had come with Faust to see how injured Daniel was, Ren had given them all a warning death glare that clearly said, _Don't ask questions or you'll have less than a second to kiss your ass goodbye._ HoroHoro had been cheeky enough to give him a meaningful grin. Little did he know that Ren was just waiting for an opportunity to slice off the Ainu's hair.

Faust proclaimed that Daniel didn't have any extensive injuries, and he and Yoh helped the knight-shaman back to the inn. Ren was careful to stick close to Ash without looking at her (lest he have yet _another _reason to make HoroHoro's face as blue as his hair), but it had been tricky. The others (mainly HoroHoro) had kept shooting him grins, and it took all of his self control not to massacre- er, torture them on the spot.

But now, Ren was just waking up, his mind automatically replaying its memories. A sudden heat rushed to his face, and he turned over, his back to HoroHoro's bed, in case the Ainu suddenly woke up and happened to look over (this was unlikely, though; HoroHoro liked his sleep).

Why did remembering things make you feel stupid and embarrassed? '_I should've done this,_' '_I should've done that_' - those thoughts were present in his mind, causing his brain to spiral.

Suddenly, Ren was snatched out of his thoughts when his Oracle Bell beeped. Startled, he slapped a hand onto it to keep it from beeping. Regaining himself, he looked at the message.

It didn't give him the name of his opponent, but it gave him instructions: '_On the morning of your match, report to the eastern entrance of the arena at 9am. You will wait there until your name is called for your match. Any further instructions will be given to you at that time.'_

Frowning in thought, Ren realized that HoroHoro's Oracle Bell was beeping as well.

With a sleepy, annoyed groan, the Ainu woke and slapped his Oracle Bell. "Shut up…" he muttered. He sprung up and turned to Ren, like a kid suddenly remembering that it was Christmas morning. "Morning, Ren," he greeted, his voice laden with amusement and smugness. "Have a nice night?" The Ainu had been too tired last night to interrogate Ren, but he was obviously making up for it now.

Ren ignored him, but there was no point in pretending he was still asleep. He sat up and proceeded to gather his things for the morning.

"Oh, don't give me that!" HoroHoro goaded. "Tell me!"

Ren shot a glare over his shoulder that said, _Shut up, Ainu._

HoroHoro grinned evilly. "How far'd you go?"

Ren swung his fist around so that it connected painfully with the Ainu's head. "You're sick." His voice was full of contempt.

HoroHoro rubbed the side of his aching head, but he knew he found a sore spot - or, at least, a spot that made Ren defensive. "What, don't wanna tell me?"

"No," Ren spat.

HoroHoro frowned. "Party pooper."

That comment earned him another smack to the head.

* * *

At breakfast, when every shaman was gathered (Ash included, though she looked rather quieter than usual - no one mentioned anything, though, for fear of Ren's Kwan Dao), Lyzerg asked, "When's everyone's matches?"

In unison, and through mouths full of food, the shamans answered, "Two days." (Though HoroHoro sounded like he said "Foo dees.")

Surprised, the shamans were silent as they stared at each other. HoroHoro's jaw dropped (which was not a pretty sight inside) and choked out, "We can't _all _have matches on the same day!"

"Yeah, I thought it was one-on-one," Chocolove added. "It would take forever!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ren asked, sitting back in his chair, and, as usual, speaking with an egotistical, know-it-all air. "They're trying to confuse us by keeping our exact time of battle and opponent a secret."

HoroHoro swallowed. "Oh, don't act so smart!" He looked like he might have said more, but suddenly Anna appeared in the doorway behind Yoh, and he fell silent out of fear.

Yoh, blissfully ignorant, was about to take another bite of his waffle when Anna mercilessly pinched his ear and dragged him out the door, yapping about training. Tears streamed down Yoh's face as he made vain attempts to grab at his food as he was quickly taken away…

Used to this interruption, the others went back to eating, all except HoroHoro thankful that they didn't have someone to push them to train till they almost dropped dead.

* * *

With matches (supposedly) two days away, it was time for training. They headed to the lake like before to do their exercises (HoroHoro, for one, was forced to run around the perimeter of the lake until Pirika called "Stop!"). Daniel, however, his nose fixed but now slightly misshapen, disappeared off into the main of Patch Village, muttering something about wanting to get something.

Ash practiced her forms by sending bluish slashes of wind across the lake, sending up water. Once, she accidentally splashed HoroHoro, but he didn't seem to mind being cooled off (though Pirika did send an angry glance in her direction for a heartbeat).

Deciding after HoroHoro's tenth lap that she needed a break, she pulled Shui from her baton and sat against a tree that grew somewhat close to the water's edge. She closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the fresh air (which was ironic, since they were supposed to be underground…). When she opened them, she was staring at the awe-inspiring form of the Great Spirits spiraling upwards. She wondered if she would ever be able to come close to it; with one glance at her companions, she knew she would never be Shaman Queen (she had long since dismissed the rather sexist title of Shaman King).

She glanced at each of her friends again, her eyes lingering on Ren's lean form as he slashed at imaginary foes. Her stomach gave another twist.

Seeing her master's eyes, Shui hissed, "The Tao clan has a bloody history, Mistress. I do not trust him."

Her spirit's words brought Ash out of her thoughts. "You were fine with him before," she stated in confusion.

"That- that was before-" Shui sputtered. "I didn't quite realize he was a Tao - he seemed too… Well, not quite like the stories of the Taos. B-but his family-"

"He's not like his family," Ash interrupted. She didn't know a lot about the Taos, but from what she could gather, Ren and his sister were the 'good ones' in the family.

Shui opened her mouth to say something, but found that she couldn't find any words. Angry at losing the argument, she muttered, completely unreasonable, "Bason's not a nice spirit either…"

"What does it matter to you? You're a wind spirit, not a human one." She leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes; she was vaguely aware of the sound of HoroHoro panting as he ran past her for the eleventh time. After a few moments, she added, "I had a dream about Bason. He was a penguin."

"What?"

Ash blinked open her eyes to see someone standing over her. Hastily, she sat up, realizing that Shui had disappeared. "R-Ren!" Her stomach once again started to go off in a million directions.

The Chinese shaman was giving her an odd, yet slightly amused look. "You were saying about Bason?"

Ash blushed and looked away with her eyes. "It was just a dream."

Ren smirked and sat down beside her, and her stomach did even more flips. "I'm sure Bason would love to know what you think about him. I'll tell him later."

Ash cast a glance at Ren. His workout had caused a sheen of sweat to shine his face, drenching a section of his shirt. He was looking out at the Great Spirits, the smirk still plastered on his face.

"What are the Great Spirits like?" she blurted, forgetting about her stomach for a moment.

Ren look at her, his golden eyes wide with surprise. "Well," he began, frowning in thought. "When I went there, there wasn't really any time to sit and watch the Spirits, but they were…" He paused. "Like nothing you could ever explain."

Ash furrowed her brow and looked at her knees, wishing she could at least know what it felt like. She was envious of him, of all of them, really. She was weak, she knew; the only reason Ren hadn't absolutely creamed her when they first met was because he was going easy on her.

Ren leaned his head slightly closer to her. "I never asked- why do you want to win the tournament?"

Ash blinked and was silent for a moment before answering. "When I first came, it was partly because I wanted to get away from the real world. But I…really just wanted to win so I could find my parents, I think. I couldn't find their souls, so I don't know if they moved on or not."

Ren frowned. "You could just ask Anna to help you."

Ash shook her head. "I don't want any help. But now…I don't know why I want to win anymore."

Her tone wasn't filled with sorrow or longing, only slight confusion. Still, Ren's frown deepened, and like before, he hesitated before he took her hand. Her heartbeat quickened, and her stomach twisted into another painful knot when she glanced up into his eyes. As usual with her, he looked concerned but uncertain, even though he had already told her that he loved her…

Yet another painful knot panged her stomach, but it showed on her face as a blush. Slowly, Ren inched forward, then quickly kissed her on the forehead and pulled away before he lost the courage, his cheeks turning red, but he didn't turn away from her.

Ash broke eye contact first by looking down, wishing she had bangs to cover her face.

"I-"

Ren was interrupted by a loud snicker. "Having fun, Ren?"

Immediately, Ren jumped up and away from Ash, looking as if he had been physically shocked. He picked his Kwan Dao up from where he had leaned it against the tree and pointed it at HoroHoro, whose face was alive with mischief.

"You know, Ash," the Ainu continued impishly, though he didn't take his eyes off of Ren or the Kwan Dao, "you could really choose anyone else and they'd have more social skills."

Ren, angered beyond words and blushing madly, took a threatening step forward, thrusting his Kwan Dao so that it pressed up against HoroHoro's jacket.

The Ainu, now visibly nervous, backed up toward the water. Ren followed him, keeping the tip of his weapon on HoroHoro. The Ainu began to speak in feverish Japanese, obviously trying to persuade Ren not to do anything drastic. Ash couldn't help but grin at the sight of the two in yet another 'life-or-death' situation.

"It'd be bad to get blood all over the place, you know," she interjected, trying to calm them down with a little humor.

Ren gave her the briefest glance, but by the time he turned back, HoroHoro was already running away - faster than he had when he was running laps. For a moment, Ren looked like he was going to give chase, but then he sighed and relaxed his stance, shaking his head and muttering, "Baka," and a few more choice words. He gave one last look at her before hurrying away to practice his forms again.

Ash watched him leave and only relaxed when he was a good distance away before looking back at her knees. She wished she didn't feel this feeling in her stomach, this guilt. She liked Ren, she really did, but last night, when she had kissed him, it wasn't just because she liked him. She had kissed him to try to drown out the feeling that Tony's eyes had caused in her gut, the kiss that didn't quite work.


	24. Do You

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King. Wish I did. That'd be so cool. But I don't. So boo-hoo me, I don't own it.**

_Oh, oh so tired... it's 1:30am... And it's been only three days since the last update. So, perhaps it's a little too soon for me to call this chapter done, but oh well, if I don't update it now, I never will._

_So... there is definitely some T-rated stuff/fluff in here. I warned you. 'Nuff said._

_Again, I'm not a Pirika expert._

_I'd probably say more, but I'm wicked tired..._

**Twenty-Four: Do You…**

Ren slashed with his Kwan Dao at imaginary foes (most of them with blue hair…), wishing he had a real opponent. Oddly, though, he didn't feel like sparring; right now, he wanted to be alone.

He was in the middle of a form when he slightly slipped up. Immediately, he scolded himself, berating his mind for wandering from training. If he was going to become Shaman King, he couldn't let his feelings cloud his thoughts in battle.

But right now, after being completely embarrassed, it was pretty damn hard.

* * *

It was dark by the time they got back to the inn; immediately, Ren showered and cleaned up for dinner, thankful that HoroHoro hadn't done anything else to embarrass him. That was how you had to deal with the others - with the Kwan Dao.

When he was finished, he headed for the kitchen, where the sounds of eating were already boisterous. He was just about to pass in front of one of the bedroom doors when he stopped short, realizing there were voices coming from inside. He would have kept going, but he recognized the two voices that his gut said he should not leave alone. Ren didn't think he would ever usually do this, but he leaned in toward the crack in the very slightly open door and listened in.

"…Aw," Ash was saying. "Really?"

"Yes," the other voice replied quietly. "I'm going while everyone's at dinner; I don't want to make a big deal out of it."

Ren could hear the frown in Ash's voice. "I'll miss you, Danny." Her words were also genuine and filled with sadness. The Tao could imagine Ash giving Daniel a hug, and he tensed, his tongari twitching slightly.

_Calm down, baka_, he told himself, attempting to forcibly relax his stance but failing._ You're just… over…reacting…_

"I'm only going to be in another inn," Daniel reassured her. "Right now I want to be alone for training and stuff…"

"I can understand that," Ash replied softly. There was silence for a moment, and Ren strained his already keen ears to listen, his heart pounding. Suddenly, he heard footsteps, and he hurried away toward the kitchen, an ugly feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach.

At dinner, Daniel wasn't there. Conversations jumped from one thing to the next, with people speaking over others (HoroHoro often with his mouth full) and laughing at one another's jokes (or, laughing just because they spilled their food all over themselves).

Ren, still seething from that bitter feeling, didn't speak much, nor did he really look at anyone. With every thought that passed through his head, he seemed to grow more agitated. He struggled not to fidget, but he needed to release his mysterious frustration _somehow._

After what seemed like hours, dinner was finally over. It was Manta's turn to do the dishes, so everyone else congregated all around the inn, some to their rooms, others to the living room, others off to who-knows-where. Ren, still anxious, leaned against the wall in the living room, unsure of what to do.

"Something up, Ren?"

Surprised, Ren looked up to see Yoh standing in front of him - he had come up to him without him noticing.

Ren shrugged. "No."

Yoh frowned. "Well, if you don't want to talk about it…" He half-turned away, as if silently offering Ren his last chance.

But he wasn't going to take it. "I'm fine," he insisted, looking rather convincing - if you didn't know him well, that is.

Yoh's mouth was slightly turned in a look of disbelief, but he nodded and left anyway.

Ren sighed inwardly and headed back to his room, thankful that HoroHoro wasn't in there. He sat on the windowsill, something he had done countless times before, wondering just what the hell was making him so irritated. Sure, _Daniel _seemed to always make him irritated (well, '_nowadays_'), but there was also something he couldn't quite place.

"Bocchama?"

"Go away, Bason," Ren wearily snapped.

"Of course." The spirit melted away into thin air as if he were never there.

Ren closed his eyes and tried to relax by breathing; it helped only slightly. He opened his eyes angrily. He had been training all day, yet he felt like he needed to _do _something. Something that would help him find out what was making him so damn irritated, or at least relieve him of the feeling.

As if by some odd coincidence, he looked straight up, and, along the edge of the roof, a pair of bare feet dangled. Surprised, he blinked at the sight a couple of times before he truly realized who the feet belonged too.

He stood up on the windowsill as if of his body's own accord and not his mind, and he reached up so that his hands grabbed the edge of the roof. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu, and for good reason too. He pulled himself up onto the roof, noticing her shock at his sudden arrival.

Ren arranged himself so that he was sitting next to her, the skin on their arms touching. Ash was looking at him, her wide grey eyes confused and unsure. But they changed to something resembling understanding and…something else… when he leaned forward, cupping her jaw and capturing her lips in an embrace tighter than he had ever before. Right now, nothing else mattered except her.

It was a wonderful escape.

He pulled away for a heartbeat to catch his breath, and she whispered, "Ren…"

He knew Ash wanted to say more, and there was something… worrying about her tone, but right now he didn't care. Ren leaned forward, even closer than before, and wrapped his other hand around her waist. He tried to kiss her deeper, and a bit to his surprise, she let him.

He was lost in a haze as he kissed her mouth vehemently. He thought he heard a sound come from the back of her throat, but he couldn't tell if it was in protest or in pleasure, so he pulled her closer. He felt her hands slide up his stomach, and he suddenly realized just what he was doing. He jerked out of range, ashamed and embarrassed, and looked away. He couldn't see Ash's expression, but he heard her slightly labored breathing.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, his agitation coming back, aimed at himself this time. What had he been doing? Why? Ugh, he was so stupid!

"Ren…" She touched his shoulder, pulling him out of his thoughts, and he looked at her. "Do you…" she began, looking nervous. "Do you really… love me?"

Ren took in her features: the curly hair that was always in some sort of mess, the grey eyes that were so… _perfect _when she was laughing. He thought about the time when she had impressed him because she never gave up, about when she'd make him blush, about becoming her friend…

He nodded. "Yes. I do love you."

Abruptly, Ren realized why he had been so (selfishly) irritated. For the first time, he had actually _loved_ another person, and he had, so far, done everything he could to keep her happy and safe. And even though he had told her his feelings, even though he had kissed her, he had never heard her verbally respond to him except when they were in the woods, and she had basically said 'no, I can't' then. And, well, he admitted to himself, he had been rather… jealous to find out that Ash had privately spoken to the person that _oh-so-blatantly _liked her!

What he wanted was for her to vocally return at least _some _of his feelings for her.

His sharp gaze locked with her eyes, and he realized that there was… _fear_ there.

"Do you love me?" he asked quietly, knowing that he had to ask her the question.

"I-I…" she stuttered, dropping her gaze. "I…" Ash laid her hand on top of his and grasped it. "I _want _to, Ren, but… I'm scared to…"

Scared? What was she scared of? _Him?_ Quickly, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead to try and comfort her. "…Why are you scared?"

Ash shut her eyes tight, like she couldn't bear to look at him. "B-because I think I have f-feelings for someone else," she confessed in a rush.

Ren, taken aback, pulled away from her a little, but kept his hand still. She… liked someone else? Immediately, he went through a mental list, trying to find out who to kill. _Daniel? Probably…_ "Who?" He failed to keep his voice restrained and it came out rather threateningly.

"I-I don't understand why," she defended rapidly, seeming not to hear his question. "But when I realized it… you were…and I… I kissed you, in the woods, to try and get rid of those feelings. I'm sorry…"

Ren tensed, his eyes widening. "You… What?" He could forgive her liking another person because he knew just how confusing those kinds of feelings were, but this…

"I-I'm sorry, Ren," she apologized, a little more quietly than before. "I understand that you're angry… But I told you that I thought I could love you before that!"

"It didn't sound like you did when I first talked to you about the first time you kissed me!" Now Ren was really starting to get furious, and he struggled to keep his emotions in check.

Ash flinched. "I… I told you my excuse, but I know that those aren't going to work now."

"No, I don't think they will." Ren shook his head. "You sounded like you already… _wanted _that 'other person' when I tried to talk to you."

"You don't know how much I _don't _want him. You don't know how guilty I feel about this." She clutched his hand and did her best to look him in the eyes. "I didn't want to hurt you."

Ren clenched his jaw. "So using me and hiding this was supposed to help?"

"I screwed up, okay?" Ash exploded. "I know what I did, and I feel horrible enough already!"

"Who is this other guy anyway?" he asked forcefully.

Ash seemed to deflate as she her sudden anger was replaced by timidity. "Please… just let me work that out by myself."

"I thought you needed me to help with that," he hissed.

She flinched again, like his words were a slap. "Please…"

Suddenly, Ren's eyes widened as a piece of the puzzle clicked into place in his mind. "You… You don't…" He trailed off in disbelief. He remembered having an inkling about this in the woods, but he had dismissed it…

She met his eyes, and he _knew_.

All of his previous thoughts were drowned for a moment in a wave of angry concern. "He _hurt _you! He could have _killed _you if I hadn't come!"

"You think I don't know that?" she asked, her voice quiet, cross, and hurt. "You think I want to feel like this?"

"I don't know," he spat. "For all I know, you could be lying!"

"I don't want to lie to you!" Her voice rose heatedly. "Right now, all I want is to be able to say 'I love you and only you' to you without the slightest doubt in my mind, but I don't know if I can do that yet!"

Ren was dumbfounded at her outburst, but she continued as she stood up, "I'm sorry that you're so impatient, but I need time to think." And then she was gone.

Ren sat there for a moment, his brain not comprehending a thing. Then, slowly, he lowered himself down from the roof backwards until his feet touched his windowsill, and he came down into his room.

HoroHoro was sitting on his own bed. He looked ready to flash Ren an evil grin, but then he saw Ren's glare, and he froze. The Ainu quickly scrambled off his bed, and, all the time keeping his eyes on Ren like the Chinese shaman was about to strike, he opened the door and slid out, closing it behind him.

In quick, angered strides, Ren traversed the room and locked the door.

* * *

"There is only one reason a girl would be crying like this," Pirika said. She was stroking Ash's hair as the shaman lay with her head on the Ainu's lap, tears spilling out of her eyes and onto Pirika's skirt. Tamao, looking worried, sat on her own bed.

"This is because of a boy," Pirika stated matter-of-factly, but also sympathetically.

Almost reluctantly, Ash nodded. "B-but… it's mostly my fault…" she whispered.

Though Ash couldn't see her, Pirika put on a doubtful face. "Is it Ren?"

Ash tensed, and the Ainu took her silence as a 'yes.'

"I thought so," Pirika continued. "What happened?"

"I… I did something to him, and he's mad at me now… but I'm trying to fix it. I… I feel really guilty about it."

"So guilty that you're crying?" Pirika asked.

"I…" Ash hesitated. "Don't tell anyone… but I hurt him. His feelings. And I'm sorrier about it than anything."

Pirika blinked and paused in her patting. "Ash? Do you… love him?"

Ash let out a choked sob that she tried to muffle with her hand, and more tears slid down her face. "It's…complicated," she managed to croak out.

Pirika smiled sadly and understandingly. "I believe that's what love is."

* * *

_A/N Yes, RenxPiri lovers, Pirika just gave Ash Pirika-ish (I think) advice on love. That's why this is RenxOC. :P_


	25. Paranoia

**DISCLAIMER: Shaman King is not mine, I only own my original characters, and we have a new addition this chappie :P**

_Ooh, boy. Sorry about the beginning, I had no patience to wait until the good stuff, so the beginning ain't so... I dunno... beefed up, for lack of a better word at ze moment._

_In this chapter, I've included French that I got off a translator site (I used to take French, so it sounds right to me, but it might be wrong- I'd appreciate it for any French-speakers out there to point out any mistakes I might've made). Translations are at the bottom._

_Oooh. Right. There's a moment of grossness in here. Hehe 8D I wonder how many of you will go "Eww..." XD_

_Tony's...biggest problem is revealed in this chapter, but only once, really. Explains a lot though, at least to me, anyways._

**Twenty-Five: Paranoia**

The day of the matches came much too soon for some. Ash woke up early, her stomach twisted with apprehension, and not only for the reasons that had plagued her for the past few days. She was beginning to doubt her own power as a shaman, and nervousness caused her fingers to twitch.

At breakfast, she forced down a couple of waffles and a glass of orange juice. HoroHoro was boasting about his training, but there was a nervous glint in his eye; Chocolove gave out anxious jokes that no one bothered to complain about. Other than that, no one really talked.

Pirika, in between her rants to HoroHoro, kept close to Ash, something that the wind shaman was grateful for - though, she did think she once saw the Ainu girl shooting a death-glare at Ren. Ash hadn't spoken to Ren at all yesterday while they were training, and he didn't seem very talkative either.

Soon, it was almost nine, and the gang set off for the arena; Ren, Chocolove, Yoh, and Ryu went to the eastern entrance, while Lyzerg, HoroHoro, Faust, and Ash went to the western one. Anna, Pirika and the rest went up into the stands, Manta wishing good luck to the shamans as they went.

Silva was waiting for them at the western entrance; the Patch member ushered them inside after other shamans.

Inside was a sort of large sitting area with walls of stone, complete with doors leading to bathrooms, a counter for snacks, and televisions lined the walls, showing the arena outside. Many shamans of different size, shape, and gender hung around, some looking edgy while others looked…pumped. At the sight of them, Ash's stomach clenched with fearfulness. How was she going to face her opponent without getting the snot beaten out of her?

As if he could hear her thoughts, Faust turned to her and gave her a reassuring grin before turning to look at everyone else and frowning.

* * *

When the clock on the wall read 9am, a Patch member whose name Ren did not know came inside, and suddenly all the talking ceased.

"Welcome, challengers. It is likely that not all of you will fight today, but you won't know who your opponent is or when you will fight until the time comes that you must - and also, none of you in this room will be opponents today, only the people on the western side. Battles will be broadcasted on the TV's, and there will be seven-minute intermissions between battles. As soon as you are given the name of your opponent, you are to exit through these doors into the arena and wait for the referee to start the match. The objective is to deplete your opponent's furyoku before yours runs out, or just stop your opponent from fighting. Any questions?"

When no one spoke up, the Patch member nodded. "Good. Now…" He looked down at the clipboard he held in his hands. "Lorraine Victoire. Please come forward."

A tall, burly black girl wearing a red shirt and black pants stepped forward through the crowd, a talisman around her neck and a determined glint in her eyes. Ren watched, waiting for the Patch official to tell her the name of her adversary.

"Lorraine…" the Patch said, looking through the list. "You will face off against a girl named Ashley Williams. Good luck."

"_Je vais gagner cette bataille,_" Lorraine vowed before throwing open to door to the arena and stepping outside.

Ren was frozen for a heartbeat, and he could feel Yoh's eyes on him. He forcibly relaxed himself. Even though he was still rather…angry at her, he still worried. But there really was no need to worry; Ash could take care of herself in this battle.

Nevertheless, however, he watched the TV screen with narrowed eyes as Lorraine and Ash stepped out onto the battlefield. The ref called for them to start, and Ash whipped out her baton and oversouled Shui into it.

"_Araign__ê__e!" _Lorraine called out, and Ren's eyes widened.

This was bad for Ash. Very, very bad.

* * *

The first thought that ran through Ash's head was that the girl was very, _very _high up. Definitely not as high up as Ren or HoroHoro or Faust on their giant oversouls, but still, compared to her on the ground, Lorraine was… a lot taller.

The second thought was that Lorraine's oversoul had terribly hairy legs, like Bigfoot had decided to go without shaving for a few decades.

The third thought was reluctant to come, as if accepting itself would cause utter and certain doom: _the oversoul had eight eyes._

Ash was staring straight at the _largest, _most _atrocious, _most _deadly _spider that she felt anyone had ever seen in their lives.

Her terror was beyond that of screaming. The oversoul struck out one of its front legs with lightning speed, but she dashed to the side, sending out a blast of air behind her to quicken her pace. She ran for the other end of the arena, and part of her wanted to jump up and over the wall into the stands and keep running. Instead, however, she tried to come up with a plan, but her thoughts kept racing to the oversoul's hairy legs and big, beady black eyes…

Ash turned around to see the spider coming almost in slow motion towards her, its legs moving in such a way that only arachnoids can do. Seeing this, she suddenly felt queasy, and her stomach lurched. Keeping a firm grip on her baton in an effort to keep a hold on her oversoul and furyoku, she involuntarily doubled over and vomited the contents of her breakfast all over the ground.

Collective sounds of disgust wafted from the stands, though a few oddballs cheered. In a split-second, out of the corner of her eye, Ash saw that Lorraine's oversoul was preparing to strike. Immediately, Ash, though physically drained, dived forward under the spider's leg, which hit the spot where bile lay, causing it to falter momentarily as it slipped. Wasting no time, Ash jumped up and slashed with her baton, sending a wind current that sliced clean through the oversoul's leg.

Unbalanced, the spider pitched forward, and Lorraine lost her balance and fell off, her oversoul breaking. Ash started forward, the air pointed around her baton in a nearly transparent blade. Her hand shook from the exhaustion that could only come from throwing up your breakfast, and she was sure that one hit from her rival would cause her to shatter her oversoul, and who knew how much furyoku she could summon up in this condition.

Lorraine jumped to her feet and pulled out a staff and oversouled her spirit into it; obviously, she didn't have enough furyoku left to create a giant spirit again, for which Ash was thankful. The staff shifted from stiff wood to a sword-like weapon, and Lorraine struck out. Ash blocked the attack and held it, her arms trembling but staying put. Then, she felt a pain in her side, and she was kicked to the ground.

For a second, Ash felt her oversoul slipping away, and with a burst of fright she grabbed hold of it. She rolled over onto her back and saw Lorraine rushing forward to come at her with a jab. Ash sat up and swiped towards Lorraine's legs, attempting to trip her with wind, but the girl just jumped over her and swatted the baton out of her hand.

Ash could still feel the furyoku in the pit of her stomach, but with no medium, she had no way to channel it. Shui appeared in her spirit ball form at her shoulder, frowning sadly as her mistress wiped her face with the back of her sleeve, defeated.

As the ref called the winner of the match and the stands once again came alive with cheers, Lorraine handed Ash her baton back and helped her to her feet.

"You fought well," she commented, her voice heavy with accent. "I believe you would have fought better if you were feeling better. I would like to have a rematch with you someday."

"T-thanks," Ash stuttered back, her limbs exhausted and shaking. "You were great, but n-next time; can you not use a giant oversoul of a _spider_?"

Lorraine laughed. "That is fair, I suppose."

The referee walked up to them. "Good job, both of you." He looked to Ash. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Ash blinked. "I'm not sure. I think I need to sit down."

The ref nodded and led the way to the exit that was closest, the eastern one. Through her exhaustion, Ash felt suddenly ashamed that she had lost, and she kept her eyes down as they entered the chamber, following close behind the referee as a barrage of noise, seemingly so much louder than the shouts had been outside. She could feel gazes on her, one stronger than the others, and her ears burned with embarrassment and shame.

Outside the arena, the lack of people made the streets seem very quiet. The ref led them to a bench, and then told Lorraine that he had to go back inside and asked for her to look after Ash. Lorraine nodded, and the referee rushed back inside.

"I think it would be best if you ate," Lorraine noted, turning back toward the arena. "I will be right back with food."

Ash nodded in assent, her hands shaking slightly as she clutched her baton, and Shui circled protectively around her.

A sudden sound caught her attention, and she looked up in hopes of seeing Lorraine returning, but was instead greeted by the sight of an oversouled whip.

* * *

"_The poor kids," the woman nurse sighed to the male one. "Just nine, and one of them's nearly dead and Dr. Chang says the boy might suffer from acute paranoia from his injuries." She shook her head. "Just another reason why drunk driving is terrible."_

_The male nurse nodded in agreement. "What about their parents?"_

"_The boy's were in the car with them, and they're upstairs. I don't know where the girl's are, however. Poor little things," she repeated._

_Tony breathed heavily from behind the corner of the wall. His arm was in a sling and hurt like hell, and his upper head was wrapped in bandages. An IV was stuck into his other arm, forcing him to cart around the annoying metal rack that held the clear bag of liquid._

_He couldn't get caught, not when he was so close. Her room was just two doors down, from what he'd manage to gather from the nurses. He'd asked them to take him to her, but they told him it wouldn't be a good idea. Screw good ideas. He was going to her, and they couldn't stop him._

_Poseidon, the spirit his father had given him, floated back to him. "They're gone, Master."_

_With a quick nod, Tony dashed across the hall, ignoring the throbbing in his head. He saw her name on the door, and he slipped inside, closing the door behind him._

"_Hey, Teen," he whispered, using the old nickname he had for her and limping up to her bed. She didn't respond; her eyes were closed, her face covered in bandages and bruises. IV's and a heart monitor were hooked up, letting out a steady beep. Christina had been on the side of the car where the drunk driver had hit; Tony wished with all his being that their roles were reversed right now._

_A sudden voice speaking in an odd tongue made Tony whirl around to see a boy with long, brown hair standing behind him._

"_W-who are you?" Tony asked. The boy didn't look like a doctor or a nurse, and he hadn't heard him come in._

"_I said, my name is Hao Asakura," the boy introduced himself, suddenly speaking in perfect English. "I am a shaman, and I see that you have a problem."_

_Tony was frightened, but he was transfixed by Hao's stare. "She…she got hurt, really badly…in an accident…"_

_Hao nodded. "Humans are terrible creatures. They do things for their own pleasure without worrying about the consequences. How badly is she hurt?"_

_Tony seemed to shrink. "The…the nurse said that she…might die…"_

_Hao frowned sadly. "Poor girl. I understand that she is a shaman as well?"_

_Tony nodded. "S-she has a snake spirit…"_

_Hao walked forward, and Tony stiffened. "What are you doing?" the little boy asked._

"_Don't worry," Hao said. He leaned down to meet Tony at eye level. "I can help her, but in return, you must help me."_

_Tony couldn't believe his ears. "I'll do anything. I…" He looked again at Christina's face and turned back to Hao. "What do I have to do?"_

"_If I help her," Hao offered, "you and her must help me become Shaman King when the Tournament comes. With me as the Shaman King, there will be no humans to pollute the planet or hurt others. Christina won't die."_

_Tony didn't remember saying her name, but he didn't think about that. "Of course we will."_

"_All right. But if you break your promise," Hao continued, "it's not likely that she will survive."_

* * *

Ren stood in the arena, his grip on his Kwan Dao like iron. Across from him, Daniel stood, his mesh-glove covered hands tightening around his sword.

The ref lowered his arms. "Begin!"

* * *

Lorraine pressed through the crowd, a bottle of water in one hand and a wrapped-up hamburger in the other (which, sadly, was the healthiest that the Patch had to offer, but she figured that Ashley could eat the bun first if her stomach was still upset).

"You, uh, did great in that fight."

She looked up to see a black boy with an afro looking at her, trying his hardest to look cool. She sighed internally.

"_Je suis désolé, mais je n'ai pas le temps de parler à des pervers en ce moment." _

He blinked, looking taken aback at her French, though she knew he couldn't understand her. "Uh… Wanna hear a joke?"

"_Non, je suis occupé._"

With that, she hurried away back outside, only to find the bench where Ashley had sat was empty.

* * *

Ash was thrown down onto the ground, fresh air whipping her hair in the dry desert heat. It was the first true fresh air she had felt in what seemed like forever, but she couldn't enjoy it. Still shaking from exhaustion, she pushed herself onto all fours and looked up.

Christina, looking rather pale, stood behind Tony, who looked…crazed. An odd glint was in his eye, and his trident was oversouled.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked, attempting to struggle to her feet but failing.

"Poseidon is the earth shaker," Tony explained. "Hao told me that if I ever failed in helping him become Shaman King, then we…" His eyes glanced toward Christina, and he continued, "…we would not survive. That is why I am helping Hao by burying the arena and the village."

"But Hao is gone!" Ash exploded. "He doesn't control you! You… you're selfish, wanting to _murder _all those people because you can't seem to get it through your head that you're _free!_"

She glared into his eyes, and realized that the only feeling in her stomach was rage and disgust and…pity. That was what she felt. Pity. Nothing more, nothing less.

With some sort of adrenaline burst, she rose to her feet and oversouled her baton with what little furyoku she had left. "I won't let you do this."

"I brought you up here to give you your last chance," Tony explained. "But you won't take it. Too bad."

With a yell of what sounded like insanity, he brought up his trident in preparation to dig it into the ground. As he swung down, something suddenly grabbed the hilt of the weapon and caused it to push into the ground sideways; cracks in the slightly sandy rock instantly spread out in about a ten foot radius, all around trio that was as still as stone.

Tony looked at the whip curling around his trident that had ruined his attack, then at Christina. "What…?"

The blonde shook her head. "No, Tony. Please. I don't want to do this anymore."

With that, she pulled back on her whip, causing the trident to shift in the rock. Instantly, the ground under Ash's feet shifted and started to crumble downwards. She slipped, cutting parts of her skin open on the rock and hitting her head on it as the ground seemed to swallow her up into blackness…

* * *

Ren easily batted the knight shaman away with his Kwan Dao. Secretly, he enjoyed toying with Daniel, but he'd never say that aloud. It felt like he was finally getting back at the knight for liking Ash - which was the reason he'd never say it aloud. It was such a selfish feeling anyhow.

Ren crouched forward to jab at his rival, but suddenly halted when a pebble appeared out of nowhere and hit his hand.

He knew instantly that this was not one of Daniel's attacks.

Suddenly, the spectators in the stands started screaming. Ren and Daniel both looked up to see the rock ceiling, so far above them, begin to crumble in one spot. Sunlight came down as well as scores of rocky debris, straight down toward the arena.

Forgetting about the match, Ren (as well as a score of other shamans from the stands) immediately fed furyoku to Bason, so that his spirit ally would grow to his giant size.

"What is this?" Ren muttered as Bason deflected a boulder. He squinted at the oncoming onslaught, noticing specks that weren't rocks. "What… There are people-!"

Ren's blood ran cold, and his spine seemed to freeze like ice when one of the people came into focus. No questions buzzed in his mind, only a dreadful fear of her hitting the ground, broken and bloodied…

"Bason!" he cried, running along the length of his spirit's arm toward her falling form. Bason, sensing his master's distress, raised his arm and caught the girl, tiny in his overlarge hand.

Ren scrambled onto his hands and knees when he got to her side. "Ash…" He nudged her shoulder, but her eyes didn't open, and then he suddenly realized that his hand was wet with her blood. His eyes widened, and he nudged her again, this time with more force. "Ash…!"

She remained unresponsive, and he grabbed her wrist to take her pulse; it felt faint, but it was there. "_Faust!_" he shouted; Ren had to get her to him. He looked around frantically for the doctor, but he couldn't see him anywhere yet.

With rushed care, Ren picked her up bridal style and stood; Ash's head lolled, and he was sickened by the sight. He was barely aware of the chaos and paranoia around him; it all seemed to be muted to him as his gaze darted all around. Ren had to find Faust… he had to find Faust…

* * *

_Je vais gagner cette bataille. - I will win this battle._

_Araign__ê__e. - Spider. (I'm pretty sure I messed up on the e's accent, but I don't know how to fix that with my computer.)_

_Je suis désolé, mais je n'ai pas le temps de parler à des pervers en ce moment. - I'm sorry, but I don't have time to talk to perverts right now. (Hehe Chocolove got REJECTED.)_

_Non, je suis occupé. - No, I am busy._


	26. Waking Up

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King, wish I did though, I'd probably be really cool then.**

_So, last real chapter, the next is the epilogue (aweh D8). I feel like the end is kinda... I dont' know. Corny, maybe. Actually, this chapter is so fluffy (at least by my standards, and I exaggerate EVERYTHING) that I'm surprised I even wrote this story, but I'm glad I did. Even if it's not the best, I can only get better, right? (unless I get worse. I'd make a reference to a book but then some of you might hit me. XD)_

_Hm. I don't think there's really anything to talk about, much. If you get confused, just ask. But, most likely I will get confused too. I'm weird like that._

_OH! Right. I did NOT do my reasearch on what happens when you hit your head. I improvised with what I THINK I know. Remember, little ones, this is something you should NEVER do, but right now I can only give half a crap._

_Also, I'm assuming that the Patch spends so much money on food and the like that they don't have enough money for real medcinal equipment (hah. how ironic, no?), so they can't check her head or whatever._

**Twenty-Six: Waking Up**

The matches had been cancelled until further notice so that the Patch could make repairs to the roof and to the arena. Many shamans were panicked or in shock at the fact that someone had fallen to their death in the rock fall.

But Ren couldn't bring himself to give a shit about that.

He never thought he could feel such revulsion as the kind he saw when he looked at Ash's body, swathed in bandages and bruises. It made him sick to his stomach, but he could not look away. It also made him sick that he couldn't help her with this; that the only thing he could do was stand around and wait for her to wake up. And he'd already been doing it for a day, only ever leaving to go to the bathroom. He hadn't eaten at all since breakfast yesterday.

Faust had said he had done everything that he could for her, and that pumping her with furyoku like they had done with Ren was too dangerous. Ren had been furious that there was nothing else to do, but he knew that he had to trust the doctor here. Still, he wished that he could do _something_. He knew what Faust was leaving out - they had to wait for her to wake up, _if _she ever woke up at all.

Ash's spirit ally, Shui, was circling around Ash worriedly. The wind spirit had already explained (rather hurriedly) what had happened to her. If it weren't for the facts that Ren didn't want to leave her side and that Tony was the one who died, he'd already be out slicing a certain shaman up.

The others had already left to other parts of the inn to leave Ren alone in some sort of unspoken agreement, and Ren had to admit to himself that he was grateful for that as his gaze slid up and down her injuries yet again. By accident, he caught Shui's eye, and the spirit sped up in front of him angrily.

"If she doesn't…" She trailed off, then flared, "If she doesn't wake up, I hope you're happy that you made her feel so awful!"

Ren was taken aback, but before he could say anything, Bason appeared beside him. "Don't talk that way to Bocchama! He is just as worried as you are!"

"I don't care!" Shui spat. She turned back to Ren. "You made her feel conflicted and confused and terrible, and you never apologized! All this time you've made her feel so… so wretched!"

Bason opened his mouth to object, but Ren interrupted him. "Be quiet. She's right."

This caught both spirits off guard and rendered them speechless. Ren ignored them and walked up to Ash's bedside and sat sideways on it, lowering his head so that his eyes were shaded by his bangs.

* * *

"_I tried to push you to love me."_

_She blinked, taking in the hazy, greenish area around her. Was that a voice? She couldn't be sure. She couldn't be sure of anything here, only that it felt like she had been here forever. _

"_I don't think I fully realized what I was doing, but still, I'm selfish for that."_

_She looked around in confusion. Where was it coming from? She was positive it was a voice now; and in this place, definite things were obsolete._

"_I did all the things Shui told me I did. I caused you to feel hurt and confused, and I shouldn't have done that."_

_Shui? It struck a familiar cord somewhere in her brain. Was that a…name? If this…Shui had a name, then why didn't she? _

"_I'm sorry. If you wake up and decide that you don't love me, then this will be the last time that I tell you that I love you."_

_Love…? Who was this person, the owner of this voice? It sounded almost recognizable, like something on the tip of your tongue…_

"_Wo ai ni, Ash. I love you. Please…wake up."_

_Who was this? The voice sounded so familiar! Whoever it was, they sounded like they loved her… But what was this person talking about, what was this 'ash?'_

"_I don't want you to…die…"_

_She felt something touch her head, but she couldn't see anything in front of her. The haziness from before was slipping away into darkness, and the voice had been fainter than before. She was beginning to care less about it, though; if she couldn't decipher who it was, what did it matter?_

_Vaguely, she felt something brush her face, something soft. Hair, maybe? But again, what did it matter? She couldn't see anything anymore, save for the blackness. And right now, it was softer and more inviting than her intrigue of the stranger…_

…_Wait a second…what was __**this?**__ Something soft and gentle was caressing her lips, carefully and delicately. She thought she could imagine the face that belonged to whatever it was - no, not 'it;' a boy. He had strange purple hair with a…spike on the top. But what was his name? Why couldn't she…remember…?_

_He left her lips, and she felt a hand on the side of her face. It definitely wasn't as soft as his lips; it felt rough and rather worn, like it had handled many…weapons?…in its life. It tenderly stroked her face with a thumb, and she hoped it wouldn't stop. It was so soothing…_

"_Please…I'm so sorry," the voice continued. "Ash…"_

_Ash… Was that…__**her **__name? Ash…it was short for…Ashley. Yes, that was it. Her name was Ashley, a name which she thought was much too girly…so she had shortened it._

_But what was __**his **__name? Goodness, this boy __**loved **__her and she couldn't remember his name! It…it started with…'L?' No… it started with 'R,' but it was more…__**fun**__ to say it the other way. What…what was it…?_

_L…Leo…? No, definitely not. Lyzerg…no, that was a different person __**entirely**__. What could it be…_

_L…Len…! _"…Lenny…"

The thumb stopped stroking her. She wanted it to continue, but she couldn't even find the strength to open her eyes. Ash _hurt_; her arms felt as heavy as lead, and her head throbbed worse than a migraine.

"A-Ash?" he asked. She wanted to see his face, and she forced her eyes to flutter open weakly.

Ren was looking at her, his mouth agape, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He looked frozen, almost like he had been caught in the act of something. It was an expression she thought she'd never see again from him, but she couldn't enjoy it right now.

"…I'm sleepy…" she whispered, her eyes already beginning to close. She was asleep within seconds.

* * *

Ash felt soft air on her face, and she knew Shui was circling her like she usually did. She heard people before she opened her eyes. It was a moment before she realized they were speaking Japanese, however. _Damnit. If you wanna talk around me, at least speak in English…_

She decided to make her consciousness known, and she opened her eyes.

Shui let out a soundless breath of relief and nuzzled her spirit ball self up against her mistress's face, and Ash smiled at her before looking around the room with her eyes.

Ash saw that her left arm was in a sling that wound around her neck, and she realized that she felt bandages almost everywhere, even around parts of her head, though there was only one on the side of her cheek. Eliza was sitting beside her, smiling. Her husband, Faust, Yoh, and Ren were standing a little ways away; Faust's back was to her. They were whispering, and she thought she caught them saying her name.

_Did…did something happen?_

Suddenly, she was aware of her injuries. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to her head and a rusty knife to her body. She tried to remember… It was a rock fall, right? And…there were other people-

"What happened to them?" she gasped out, her throat rasping with lack of use. How long had she been asleep?

The trio instantly stopped talking and turned around to hurry up to her bedside. Faust grabbed her wrist gently and took her pulse, while Yoh and Ren looked worriedly at her.

"Are you all right?" Yoh asked.

Ash wanted to snarl with impatience. "What happened to them? How long was I out?"

Ren grimaced. There were slight shadows under his eyes, and ever his tongari looked off-kilter with strands of his purple hair splintering off in different directions. "You were unconscious for over a day, and after that you slept for about twelve hours. It's almost one in the morning."

"Well, what happened?" she asked, when no one offered to answer her first question.

Ren hesitated, and Yoh answered for him. "That girl that was in the fall; she got hurt, but she's already awake from what we've heard. Danny managed to get her to one of the Patch doctors; he said he couldn't find Faust."

Ash let out a tiny breath of relief. She hadn't wanted for Christina to get hurt, but at least she sounded okay. "What happened to…" She trailed off when she saw the looks in each of their eyes. A sick feeling of dread weighted her stomach.

Ren was quiet for a moment, and then he locked her gaze with his golden stare. "…He didn't make it."

She was frozen for a heartbeat. "I…I didn't want him to _die_…"

Ren kept staring at her, not speaking. After a moment, Faust asked, "What exactly happened?"

Ash paused, knowing full well that Faust was trying to keep her mind off of the death - something that she felt grateful for. "Lorraine went back inside to get me some food… and then Tina trapped me in her whip and they took me outside." She glanced at Ren, but looked away quickly; she didn't like the odd - almost _murderous_ - look in his eyes. "Tony…gave me one last chance to join them again, but I said no… He was going to make the ground above the arena collapse, but Tina…she…used her whip and changed the direction of his attack so that we _all_ went down…"

She suddenly came into a burst of panic. "Don't blame her for anything, it's not her fault!"

Faust laid a calming hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, she'll be fine. After making sure you were stable, I went over to see her. The Patch are taking good care of her; so is Daniel, actually."

Ash relaxed. "That's good…" she sighed out. She closed her eyes, feeling the pain in her limbs. "…How bad am I?"

If she had opened her eyes any second later, she might have missed the flash of pain in Ren's eyes. But it was gone so quick, she thought she might have imagined it. Faust answered her, and she reluctantly pulled her eyes out of Ren's golden gaze.

"Your head is bruised, but there shouldn't be any excessive brain injuries," Faust explained. "The rest of your body, however, was badly cut up and bruised; there might be permanent scarring in some places. Your left arm is broken, and so is your right ankle."

It took a second to process the information, and she didn't like the way that the trio was looking at her worriedly. Attempting to lighten the atmosphere, she joked, "Okay, so now, how bad do I _look_?"

Ren's eyes widened in shock (for how could she _joke _right now?), but Yoh laughed and said, "Terribly ugly."

Ash let out a puff of laughter. "Good, `cause that's what I was going for."

Yoh noticed that Ren didn't look too happy, and he elbowed Faust discreetly. "You must be starving," he said to Ash. "We'll go get you some food."

As if it had been waiting, Ash's stomach let out a loud grumble of hunger. "Thanks!"

Yoh grinned, and he, Faust, and Eliza exited the room, the younger shaman making sure to close the door securely behind them. Ren glared after them, his jaw taut.

There was silence for a moment. It was oppressive and stifling, but Ren didn't want to break it. He was afraid of what he might say; he didn't want to push her like he had been.

"Lenny-" she started, sitting up as best as she could with her sore muscles.

He spoke over her without looking at her. "Don't make me help you again," he warned; his voice was dark and cold, like a nighttime blizzard. He had to sound harsh; he couldn't let her think about _that_ right now. The circumstances (Tony's death, Tina's injuries) might make her want comfort, it might make her want to say false things.

Ash blinked, taken aback. She couldn't come up with anything to say, so she answered, "I won't."

There was another silence. To Ash, Ren looked almost as if he wanted to say something; if he did, he didn't say anything.

"Ren…?"

"What." His voice was so flat and distant that it didn't sound like a question.

She stared at him for a second; she had to do this carefully. "When I was…unconscious, what did you say to me? You said something in…Chinese, I think."

Ren looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She heard what he said? "I don't know what you are talking about."

Ash frowned. "Don't lie. I could hear you. You helped me wake up."

He gave her a look. "Let's not talk about this right now."

"But…Ren…"

"You're hurt right now, and not just physically," Ren told her harshly before she could say anything else. He lowered his voice. "I won't talk to you until you can think rationally."

He saw her temper flare in her grey eyes. "I _am _thinking rationally, you shit-head! I realized that I loved you _before _I got hurt!"

The words stunned Ren. He wanted to believe her, but…he couldn't. Not when she was hurt and bombarded with the news that someone she knew and thought she had feelings for was dead. No matter how angry she was with him and how persuasively she tried to tell him, she couldn't think rationally.

Ren shook his head. "I can't believe you right now. Let's wait until this-"

"You- you're so fucking _thick_!" she swore, attempting to scramble out of her bed.

"Ash!" He was at her side in an instant, pushing her back into her bed as gently as possible. "You're not ready to get up without help!"

Suddenly, Ren found that his lips were trapped against hers. He tried to pull away, but she grabbed the back of his head with her good hand. To describe it best, her kiss was… furious and angry.

When Ash finally pulled away, she still had her hand on his neck.

"Wo ai ni!" she exclaimed, suddenly happy.

Dazed from the kiss, Ren snapped back to reality. "What?"

"That's what you said to me! 'Wo ai ni!'" She blinked, and Ren wondered (probably for the hundredth time) how she could change emotions so rapidly. Then she asked, "What does it mean?"

Ren's cheeks heated, and he turned his eyes away from her. "…'I love you,'" he mumbled.

"I love _you_, Ren," Ash continued, suddenly serious again. She moved her hand from his neck to the side of his face and forced him to look her in the eye. "I love you, and _only _you."

Before he could verbally respond, she kissed him again, this time slower. When she pulled away from him, she also took her hand, but on impulse Ren grabbed it. For a moment, they just stared at each other, neither one completely sure of what to do next.

Suddenly, there was a loud and blatant knock on the door, and Ren jumped away from her and was across the room in a second; Ash had to smirk at his shyness.

The door opened and the entire gang poured into the room, each one looking tired (which was understandable at this late hour); Ash was happy to see them all, but when she saw Lyzerg carrying a tray of food (_American food!_), she only had eyes for that.

Hungrily, Ash forgot her manners as she tore into the food as fast as she could with one hand (the other was in the stupid sling…), and slurped down a bottle of milk as the others laughed and joked, each one happy that she was okay (even Anna was…satisfied that she was all right).

"Whoa, there," HoroHoro warned Ash. He grinned evilly and glanced at Ren. "I didn't think you'd be this hungry after all the Chinese food." This earned him a smack on the head from Ren, and caused Chocolove to call out, "Hey! That was my joke!"

Everyone (save for the three aforementioned and Anna (though she did smirk)) laughed. Ash looked around at them all, and her father's words echoed in her mind, and she thought she finally understood just what '_you can't truly enjoy something without knowing the pain that comes with it' _meant. You had to take the good with the bad, and you couldn't give up on something just because it was hard. And if you stuck around long enough through the pain, you would appreciate something even more when it became better.

Her eyes lingered on Ren, who was still fuming at a certain Ainu. She wondered if he had realized what it meant; it would explain why he had asked her if she had run away from him.

Ash watched as Chocolove made another bad pun, and Ren turned to him dangerously.

Yes. This part was one of the good ones.

* * *

_Funny note: me and my friend have a running gag about "Chinese food," but it's about Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender (because the Fire Nation is based off of the Chinese), not about Ren. But hey, it still works. XD_

_Speaking of that show, in the epilogue, I make an allusion to it. (er, if that's what you call it XD). _


	27. Epilogue

**DISCLAIMER: Shaman King is not mine. If it were...hm...well. I suppose I wouldn't be writting this now, would I?**

_Hola everyone. Looky at what's here. Zeh epilogue. *pats a certain fangirl of this story, you know who you are. XD*_

_I can't decide. I want to keep writting about Ren and Ash (and boy, do I have ideas), but I don't know if I want to make it a full-blown sequel or just a bunch of oneshots or what. I don't even know if I should make it into another story or just add it on to this one, so I'm keeping this one as "incomplete" for now; advice would be greatly appreciated, my adoring fans (I mean, you got this far, you either love this story or hate it. If you're here, I'd assume the first, but who am I to know?), so just tell me what you want. :P_

_Some parts are meant to be vague as both or either a fill-in-the-blank or will be explained if I do the sequel/oneshots/whatever. :P Enjoy._

_Yesssss. Ash is an Avatar: tLA fangirl. 8D epic show._

**Epilogue**

_**Six Years Later…**_

At twenty, Ash was much taller and leaner than she had been when she was fourteen. While she was still a jeans-and-T-shirt girl, shiny rings adorned a few of her fingers (all of which were costume jewelry), and her hair was dyed a dark reddish-brown. It was much tamer than it used to be, with two curly bangs that framed her face and hid the faint line on her jaw, a scar that would never go away. She wore a silver bracelet inscribed with Chinese characters on her right wrist - the only Chinese characters that she felt she would ever be able to read without a second thought.

Shui, still the same as ever, floated through Ash's apartment wall. "Hello, Mistress."

Yeah. Still the same as ever.

"Hey Shui," Ash greeted without looking up. She was flipping through a magazine on different art exhibits around the globe while the TV blared old reruns of _Avatar: the Last Airbender, _while Emil sat on the short coffee table, watching the television with only half-interest_. _"I thought you were going to wander around a little longer?"

Shui shrugged. "I just came in to check on you. A college student, alone - I've seen many terrible things happen to people when they're on their own."

"I'm fine, Shui," Ash laughed. "I know how to fight off anyone who could happen to knock down my door out of all the other ones in the building."

Shui shook her head in amused exasperation and floated back out.

Ash heard a familiar voice, and looked up quickly to see Zuko (_with hair,_ she thought dreamily) appear. Though she had seen this episode perhaps a million times, she watched it with gusto, giggling as Sokka did yet another epic fail.

When the episode faded out, she clicked on the TV guide to see that the next episodes were the series' finale. Excitedly, she jumped off the couch and hurried to the kitchen to grab a glass of milk and the secret stash of Oreos that she kept for occasions just like these. It was good to be prepared.

She hurried back to the living room and put her food on the end table, Emil watching her and offering a meow as if to say, '_What? No food for me?'_ She was just about to plop herself down on the couch when there was a knock on her front door. Cursing her luck, she turned the volume on the TV down, hurried to the front door, and brought her eye up to the peephole. Instantly, she yanked the door open.

"Ren!"

The Chinese shaman wore a mustard-yellow coat with a white shirt and tie with his black shorts - his trademark outfit when he was younger. He was definitely taller than he had been when he was fourteen, but he still had his tongari and his facial features were exactly the same, if not more defined - except, though, he looked nervous.

He gave her an anxious smile. "…Hey. I, uh, like your hair."

Suddenly, Ash slapped his shoulder harshly, and he involuntarily cringed, for hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she asked heatedly. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "Why don't you ever call me? Last time you said you would come visit 'in a few months,' but that was a year ago! You told me you were '_too busy_,' but that's been your excuse for a long time now! And what are you doing here?"

Without waiting for an answer, she slammed the door closed in his face.

On the other side of the door, Ren sighed and knocked again. "Ash? Please, let me explain-"

He was cut off by the sound of a door opening, but it wasn't her door. He looked behind him to see Mrs. Oden, Ash's grizzled-haired, incredibly short and old neighbor peeking out, dressed in her characteristic pink bathrobe and clutching her walking stick.

She eyed Ren with a fierce look that only old people could give. "You! I didn't think I'd see you again. And you still have that idiotic hairstyle!" She whacked his knee with her cane, which caused Ren's muscles to tense and his tongari to twitch ever so slightly - if you didn't know his mannerisms well, you'd have never have known that he even _felt _the hit. "And what, dear boy, is the problem with your wardrobe choice?"

"Hello…" Ren greeted. He didn't like this woman at all, but her husband was the landlord, and he didn't want her to complain that Ash brought over irritable company; the girl had worked too hard throughout high school to get this apartment to be kicked out. "How are you, Mrs. Oden?" he asked politely. That was the thing with this woman - if you ignored her, your shin would be bruised for life.

In addition, about his clothes: this was Ash's favorite outfit on him (well, favorite outfit to tease him about), and he hoped that her seeing him like this would help lighten the mood. But, obviously, it hadn't.

"I was watching my stories, but then I heard all this racket and had to come out!" She narrowed her eyes up at him. "You're a peculiar boy. Handsome, I'll admit, but your clothes and your attitude and your hair is atrocious." She whacked his shin again - Ren had long since thought that, if this woman were younger and a shaman, she would have been the one to defeat Hao (or at least give the pyromaniac a run for his money), and he didn't think any differently now.

"I apologize," he answered, but his tongari twitched with irritation; luckily, the woman didn't see.

Mrs. Oden huffed. "The cheek in youth these days!" She shook her head. "What is the world coming to…?"

"Mrs. Oden?" Ash opened her door and stuck her head out.

"Ah! Alison," Mrs. Oden greeted warmly. "Good to see you! Your… _friend _here," she said with a look at Ren, "was just catching up with me. How are you, dear?"

Mrs. Oden also had a bit of a sexist attitude towards men. Or, perhaps (_and more likely_, Ren thought with malice), the attitude was reserved for Ren and Ren alone.

"I'm good, Mrs. Oden. And you keep forgetting, it's Ashley." The girl fully stepped out into the hallway.

"Oh, my mistake!" Mrs. Oden apologized. "I always mix up names. But I never forget a face," she added with another glance/glare at Ren.

"I'm sorry if Ren bothered you," Ash continued as if Ren had been a small misbehaving child. "We'll leave you in peace." Gently, she ushered Mrs. Oden back into the elder woman's apartment, but not before the woman whacked Ren's shin one last time with a quick, "You'd better behave around here, boy."

"You left me out here on purpose," Ren hissed as he followed/limped after Ash into her apartment, closing the door behind them.

"You deserved it," she shot back, not even looking at him as she stomped into the living room.

"You didn't let me explain."

Ash whipped around to face him. "Well, it's a little hard to do that when I'm mad at you for not having seen you in a year! And you didn't even answer when I called you!"

"I'm sorry," he apologized. Suddenly, he looked sheepish - an emotion that he would only ever show her. "But I-" he broke off, scratching the back of his head in hurried thought of how he was going to say this. "Well… my parents have been wanting me to get…married."

Ash blinked, her anger forgotten for a moment. "Married?"

"Yeah," he confirmed. "They arranged it before I was born, and it took me all this year to get it… _unarranged._ I didn't want to tell you, though." He smirked, letting his attitude come out. "The last thing I needed was for you to come to China and destroy everything there."

Ash frowned and narrowed her eyes, obviously considering his words. Ren fidgeted slightly under her stare, wishing that the awkwardness would go away.

"Who did they want you to marry?" she asked.

Still nervous, Ren answered, "You remember the X-Laws?"

Ash's eyes widened. "They wanted you to marry that blond dude?"

"Well- _What!_" Ren sputtered, and his jaw dropped. "N-no! What the _hell_?"

Ash suddenly burst out laughing, doubling over and clutching her stomach. "You- you should've…seen your _face_…" She continued to giggle into her hands.

Ren, face red with humiliation, crossed his arms. "That was not funny."

"It was to me," she retorted, voice still bubbly with amusement. "And you deserve it, anyway."

Ren narrowed his eyes, his face slowly returning to its normal shade. "Anyway… my parents wanted me to marry the old leader of the X-Laws, Jeanne."

Ash blinked, her amusement gone. "Jeanne?" She frowned. "You…you didn't want to marry her?"

"Of course not!" He looked disgusted, and he was disgusted. "Why would I want to marry her? She's a… well, I don't know what to call her. Besides," he added, face tinting slightly pink, "I love you, not her."

Abruptly, she threw her arms around him in a hug. "Aw! I forgive you, Len-Len!"

Surprised at her actions, it was a moment before he asked, "_Len-Len_?" in disbelief.

Ash pulled away, a smile apparent on her face. "Yes! I can't call you Ren all the time now, can I?"

After a moment, Ren smirked and shook his head in amusement. "You're the craziest girl I know."

She laughed. "It's what I aim for." Ash suddenly poked him in the chest. "It had better stay that way. If you meet anyone more insane, I'll have to eliminate them."

Ren leaned forward and kissed her full on the mouth, then pulled away. "I missed that."

"You mean you missed _me_, you little shit." Ash flicked his forehead. "I'm still mad at you, though. So no more kisses today."

Ren frowned. "I suppose that's fair. I'm not happy about it, though."

Contradicting her earlier words, she gave him one more kiss. "That's it. And too bad." She pulled away from him completely. "Do you want something to eat? I have to go to the store, but I think I have some more milk left."

"Sounds good," Ren answered.

Ash left the living room to go to the kitchen, and Ren looked around the living room. It hadn't changed much since the last time he had been here; pictures covered the wall, some in frames while others were simply tacked there. Most of them were of when Ash had gone to Japan after she graduated high school and spent the summer with the members of the En Inn. Some were of her and Christina (Daniel was usually somewhere in the picture with them; Ash said that he hung out with Christina all the time now - lovesick dolt), while others were of her and Lorraine, who she had become friends with since their first meeting in the Tournament.

The rest were of Ash's _many _drawings. That's what she was in college to study: art. Most of what she drew were charcoal sketches, though some were colored, and a few rare ones were painted on canvas. Ren remembered her telling him with delight about which colleges she might want to go to, but it was expensive; it had took him a while, but he had finally convinced her (truthfully) that his parents would never notice if he helped her out financially. But other than that, Ash never asked him for any kind of money help, and despised it whenever he paid for something.

Ren looked at the pictures, and frowned when he didn't find the one picture that Ash had drawn of him. He had liked it, too; perhaps she had took it down when he stopped calling her to better deal with his parents.

His eyes stopped when he saw the cat on the coffee table. It was muscular with pure ebony fur and was looking at Ren with a piercing yellow gaze through half-closed eyes - Ren couldn't decide if the cat was taking no notice of him or if it already had an intense hatred for him.

"Here's your milk, Master Lenny," Ash joked with a mock bow as she appeared out of the kitchen. "I hope it is to your liking. If it's not, well, too fucking bad, you deserve it."

He took the glass of milk from her. "You swear too much."

"Really? No shit, I never knew."

Ren smirked, and his gaze flicked back to the cat. "When did you get that?"

"Emil? I don't know, a few months ago? I got him from the shelter; the lady said he started fights with the other cats. Can you imagine?" she asked, her voice turning sweet as she scooped down to scratch Emil behind his ears; the cat closed his eyes and purred in response. "Emil, how could you ever start fights? You're too cute a kitty."

Personally, Ren thought that the slight scars along the cat's muzzle and ears were a dead giveaway to its crimes, but he said nothing.

"So…" Ren began, looking for something else to talk about. His eyes found the TV. "What are you watching?" he asked in confusion.

"Only the best show ever," she informed with a big smile, standing back up. "_Avatar: the Last Airbender._"

Ren blinked. "I think I remember you watching that the last time I was here."

Ash nodded enthusiastically. "It's the series' finale. Aang finally faces the Fire Lord."

"Uh… that's good?"

Ash laughed. "Oreo?" she asked, picking up the cookie off the end table and offering it to him. He shook his head and took a draught of his milk before setting it down on the table. "You're loss," she said, popping the cookie in her mouth. She swallowed. "What're you doing here, anyway? Besides just coming to visit and telling me that you're not getting married?"

Ren wasted no preamble, but a look of embarrassment lightly blushed his features. "Well, I wanted to tell you that Yoh and Anna are getting married."

"That's awesome!" she exclaimed. "A long time coming, but awesome! But, Lorraine already told me about it. She said Chocolove already invited her, so she's going."

Ren blinked. "Oh. Well, er…good for her?"

Ash laughed. "Ren, what is it that you want to ask?

Ren looked away. "Well- you know Chocolove and HoroHoro and the rest are going, and if I don't go with a date I'll never hear the end of it. Actually, if I do go with one, I'll never hear the end of that, either…" he added in a mutter.

Ash raised her eyebrows. "A date? Wow Lenny, I never thought you'd ask."

Ren's cheeks went red. "What? Date? No! I mean…" He paused, trying to pull his thoughts together. It wasn't as if they hadn't gone on a date before, but still, Ren didn't feel comfortable labeling something as a 'date.' "If you want it to be…"

Ash laughed. "Of course I'll go with you, Lenny. When is it?"

Ren seemed to calm down, but still looked a little embarrassed. "In two months, on the eighteenth."

Ash smirked. "This should be fun." She looked at him, a hint of sadness in the back of her grey eyes. "When will you be going back?"

"Actually… I was thinking we would go a couple of weeks before the wedding, and until then… maybe I could stay here?"

Her smile widened considerably. "Of course you can! You can stay in the spare room!"

Slight disappointment flickered on his face (_oh, __**men**__, _she thought with exasperation - she remembered Lorraine telling her once that "all men are perverts; some just hide it better than others."), but he quickly replaced it with a look of annoyance. "That room is barely bigger than a closet, and you always make me stay there." He knew and respected _why _she made him stay there (and he _did _have to agree with some of her reasoning), but that didn't mean he had to like it - and one way to complain was through the fact that it _was_ barely bigger than a closet.

"Well, I know how much you and Horo like closets," she joked with an impish grin.

"_I do not like closets_!" Ren protested, knowing exactly what Ash was implying.

Ash paused, considering his words. "Well, I suppose you don't." She gave him a sly look. "I saw the way you were looking at Pirika when I stayed in Japan with you guys."

"For the last time, I was _not_ looking at her!"

Ash rolled her eyes. "_Sure _you weren't."

Ignoring what Ash had said earlier, he leaned into her and kissed her again. He was impatient and frustrated with her whole 'you deserve it' routine; plus, he felt like being selfish.

"Greedy bastard," Ash muttered once he pulled away. "I can't believe I'm in love with such an egotistical shit-head."

"I can't believe you feel the need to swear every five seconds."

"I can't help it. It's in my frigging nature."

"Mistress Ashley!" interjected Shui, suddenly appearing down from the ceiling, dragging a harassed-looking Bason behind her. "That Tao boy is-" She broke off, seeing Ren, and pursed her lips.

"Shui!" Ash exclaimed. "What did you do to Bason?"

To both the shamans' surprise, Bason's face…blushed. "I-it's fine, Lady Ash. I'm all right."

"I'll be back later," Shui said abruptly, releasing Bason from her dangerous grip and floating off in her spirit ball form.

Bason, suddenly looking awkward, turned to Ren, who looked awkward as well before he said, "Well, you can go, Bason!"

"Yes, Master Ren," Bason replied before disappearing into nothingness - he had long since stopped calling his master 'Bocchama.'

"What was that about?" Ash asked once they were alone again.

"I don't know," Ren said, bemused. "I don't think I want to know."

Ash laughed, then quieted, turning serious but still having a small smile on her face as she gave him a hug. "I missed you," she whispered. "I was worried about you."

"I missed you, too," Ren murmured back. "I never stopped thinking about you."

"Pervert," she muttered into his ear. "I'm still mad at you, though."

Ren grinned. "Too bad, I'm still going to kiss you whenever I want to."

"You're the most stubborn ass I've ever met." She pulled away, and saw a glint around part of Ren's neck, and she grabbed it, pulling out the pendant that she had given to him what felt like a million years ago out from under his shirt.

"I didn't know you still had this," Ash breathed, holding the yin and yang pendant in her fingers.

"What, you think I threw it out?" Ren asked, amused. He grasped her wrist gently, the one that was holding his pendant. "You still have the bracelet I gave you last year."

Ash blushed. She looked like she was going to say something, but a sudden tinkling sound brought both of their attentions to the end table, where Emil's collar tags were striking the glass as he lapped up the remains of Ren's milk.

"Hey!" Ren exclaimed, taking a threatening step towards the cat.

Before he could get any closer, however, Ash swooped forward and scooped Emil up in her arms. The cat's muzzle was wet with milk, and he looked rather satisfied. Then, from behind Ash's back, he shot Ren the most _dirty _look that Ren had ever seen from an animal.

"He just…_tainted _my milk!" Ren shouted almost disbelievingly.

"Poor baby Emil…" Ash cooed to the cat. "You were probably hungry. But you shouldn't have drank from Ren's milk; that was a no-no."

"That _thing_ is not a baby, it's not even a kitten," Ren pointed out, not quite believing what he was seeing.

"Oh Ren, just because Emil was hungry doesn't mean you have to really be mad at him," Ash retorted, stroking Emil's fur soothingly.

Ren looked away, crossing his arms as he mumbled something rather obscene about the cat, too low for Ash to hear.

"Anyway," Ash continued, placing Emil down on the couch. "That was the last of the milk, and I know you can't go without for more than an hour. Will the Great Lenny please accompany me to the store?"

"Sure," Ren grunted, still annoyed at the whole ordeal.

Ash suddenly realized that the TV was still on. "Oh, we can't leave yet, the show's not done!"

Ren rolled his eyes. "You've seen it a million times, haven't you?"

"But still," she said, suddenly taking his arm and dragging him to the couch, "it's the best show ever."

Ash plopped onto the couch and pulled Ren down beside her. Ren let out a sigh of defeat, knowing he couldn't escape from this situation.

"The only way they could make a better show," Ash added as an afterthought, "is if they put _you_ in it; but that'd never happen. The camera adds ten pounds, and I know how much you hate to look fat. Plus, you're just so camera shy."

"Oh, be quiet," he muttered.

"You-"

"Deserve it, I know," Ren finished for her. "You know, on top of swearing, you love to torture people."

"Only because I love them," Ash said with mock sweetness and a wide grin. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, making his face heat slightly. "And because I'm good at it."

"Whatever happened to that picture you drew of me?" he asked, suddenly remembering.

"Oh…that?" She seemed suddenly embarrassed. "…I put that up in my room."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well…yeah," she muttered. "You know what?" she said suddenly, jumping to her feet. "I can watch this show later. We'll go to the store; and _you _can tell me all about what you've been up to," she added, giving Ren an evil grin that told him the consequences would be dire if he didn't.

"All right," Ren answered, standing up beside her.

"Oh, Ren?" Ash asked when they were at the door.

"What?"

She smirked. "You look _awfully _cute in that outfit."


End file.
